Pieces
by deadly maelstrom
Summary: "When demons and knights ally themselves what is the result? I guess we can only wait to find out." Sora and co.,  knights,  cross paths with my OC's,  demons, not literally,  in the their home the Realm of Dawn.
1. Felix Hunter

_**This is actually a second version I wrote. Pretty much the same as the first just a few minor changes.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

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**Chapter one**

"**Felix Hunter"**

In this world living things are made of three parts each of which possess a unique power: power of the body, pieces; power of the soul, will; power of the heart; magic. Three realms exist, however, only one of them has unlocked all three of these powers. These three realms are the Realms of Light, Darkness, and Dawn. The Realms of Darkness and Light have always been at war with each other and recently the Light stands on top in this never ending struggle. The Realm of Dawn, however, has always had an internal battle as the power of Pieces is a dangerous and unpredictable one. Psychokinetic abilities granted to those with proper genes.

Those dwell in the Realm of Light have always believed that their cause to extinguish Darkness was just and at the epitome of this cause stood a young man around the age of sixteen. His chocolate brown hair completely defied the law of gravity pointing in every direction possible. His eyes were deep cerulean blue. He wore mostly black including a short sleeved hood jacket, fingerless gloves, a black shirt with a large front pocket, and baggy, black shorts. On his feet was a pair of oversized yellow shoes. The skin on his face, however, had a large un-ignorable bluish purple bruise on it. Its shape was hardly debatable and could easily be described as a fist.

Next to the "hero of light" stood a boy at least five inches taller than the former. His aqua marine eyes were partly covered by his long silver hair which went down to just below his shoulders. He had on long blue jeans. On his upper body he had a black zip up shirt which was slightly unzipped at the bottom. Over this shirt was a fully unzipped jacket which was white on the outside and yellow on the inside visible only at the collar where the jacket folded open. This jacket was stained red along with the boy's face. Starting at his nose there was a fresh stream of blood dripping down over his mouth and off of his chin.

There was a girl standing in front in of the pair. The look her face was more frustrated than concerned. Her indigo eyes glared at the two. Unlike them she was completely unharmed. The pink outfit and hood she was wearing did not have so much as wrinkle in them. He auburn was as perfectly straight as it had been when she left home that morning. However, she did not that upon leaving her home that day her already incredible life was about to take a drastic turn.

The three of them were on the beach of a small island when compare to its neighbors. This island had many wooden constructs in its trees complete with bridges connecting each of them. Behind the two boys was a bent palm tree with shaped fruits.

She looked the pair she was facing dead the eyes and asked them a very straight forward question, "Why? Why wouldn't you let me fight!"

There were unclear looks between the pair that the question was directed to. A few tense seconds passed which for both of the parties felt hours until the silver haired boy with bloody nose spoke with a very direct answer, "Because it was too dangerous. You saw what she could do; she would've killed you if she'd gotten her hands on you."

The auburn haired now looked angry rather than frustrated, "Oh! She snaps a few trees and suddenly I become the damsel in distress." She pointed her hand to a palm tree that had been snapped in two. The base was still in the ground but the rest of it was lying on the sand.

The spiky haired boy finally spoke up after his eyes paid a visit to the snapped tree "I think what he was trying to say was that we just wanted you to be safe. If she was able to do that" the boy then pointed to the destroyed tree "with just a plain kick. Who knows what else she could do."

"That's why you should've let me help you. I know I'm not as strong as you, but I still would've have been able to help." The image of their attacker then reverberated in her head. A girl, fourteen at the most, stood imaginarily in front of her. On her head was a large, light blue sun hat with a blue ribbon tied around it. Her eyes were a somewhat dark shade of pink with a piercing and apprehensive look in them. Her hair was a deep brown and wavy. Some fell down through her hat and onto her forehead. The length of her hair was half down her back. She wore a yellow shirt with one white sleeve on her left arm the hand of which was on her hip. Her right arm was full visible and hanging completely loose. She was wearing blue jeans that fell almost to the bottom of legs that comprise a good portion of her height. Her most distinctive feature was on upper right arm. A tattoo was there its center piece being a bright yellow, five pointed star. On each of the points there was a smaller star their colors in clockwise order being green, blue, violet, red, and orange. At the center of the large star was grey spiral. This was the girl who had the pair in front of the auburn haired girl had fought and lost to.

She questioned the words she had just spoken. She had only been one real fight against a group of black yellow eyed creatures that were low on the totem pole in their ranks. However, her drive to prove herself useful in her own eyes made the words come out of her mouth.

"Well either way, we still have no idea who that was or what she wanted." The silver haired boy said attempting to change the subject somehow. Though the girl caught this, however, she said nothing of it seeing as it was something they could not ignore forever. "All she did was take pictures of our Keyblades then beat crap out of us." The spiky hair boy nodded at this.

After roughly half an hour of discussing it was decided that the island trio should visit the place known as Radiant Garden. Here they would see if its inhabitants knew anything of the girl they had just faced or the tattoo on her arm.

**Pieces**

Four months had passed since that day on the island. Within two weeks of those four months the auburn haired girl made a decision which may have changed or cost her life. All the two boys knew of this was a note that had been left for them reading:

_Dear Sora and Riku,_

_You will always have watched out for me since the day I first arrived at the islands. You even travelled to different worlds going so far as to turn to darkness or turn into a heartless for me. I will always love and appreciate both of you from very bottom of my heart. However, there has always been this been part that wanted to get stronger to prove to myself how strong I was. I know will this will seem really selfish and will make you worry but I've decided to go on a journey on my own through the realm of dawn. Within the time since this whole thing started, we've lots of amazing things and I'm sure there are plenty more out there. It's weird, huh. Things like light and darkness always determined how a person should live. But I think in a place like that power will be power. Some people prefer peace, while others will go to extreme lengths for what they consider to be "good." Everyone has something they believe and I want to find mine to. So for now I'm discarding the title Princess of Heart. Please don't come looking for me. I promise I'll come back when I feel I'm ready. I hope you will understand._

She did not leave a signature she assumed it would be unnecessary. She thought about that note as she ran. "_Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!_"The words kept racing through her mind streaking down the corridor. The entire hall was built of red and black metal. Her feet clanked every time they hit the floor. The auburn haired girl was wearing a navy blue jacket over a dark green shirt. The blue skirt that covered her lower area blew around her thighs as the roar of an engine pelted her ear drums. The girl came to a stop at door that automatically opened when she came up to it and ran inside faster than the wind. She stepped out of the door way and slid down wall to the immediate left. Her breaths were deep, loud enough to be heard across the room. Beads of sweat rolled down her face dripping onto her shirt and jacket. Through the wall she could hear the engines of her pursuers pass by the room. Her heart beat stopped for a moment. The floor beneath her shook ever so slightly from the noise. Within a few seconds the noise was gone. The floor stopped shaking and her heart beat pounded louder than ever.

Though her pursuers had given up there hunt for her, she knew her life was not safe yet. Outside she could hear the battle she had inadvertently gotten involved in. Gunshots rang through the air along with many other sounds some of which she could describe some she could not. She distinctively heard sound of people screaming in agony. However, what truly had her attention were the sounds she could not describe. Some of could be compared to lighting, while others to some type energy wave. "_Pieces, almost everyone I've seen in this world has one. Some can hardly do anything, while others can level entire cities._ This is insane I tried to the right thing and this is what I get._"_

As these thoughts ran through her head she took her first real look at the room she was in. Unlike the metallic hallway the room was styled to be some type of lounge. There were three bright red couches, one in the center and other two facing each other. In the middle of them was a glass coffee table with magazines spread on top and the remote for what appeared to be a TV built into the wall. As the girl wandered around the room she came across a white refrigerator. Running around a large structure filled with super-powered soldiers and large menacing machines would make anyone hungry. She reached out grabbed the handle and gave it simple pull but, the door would not budge. "Come on damn it" the girl said as she pulled harder on the door. It was at this time she decided to use thing that had brought this far.

A bright flash of light appeared in her hands. At first it was nothing more than a flash; however, it quickly took shape. In her hand there was teal colored hilt of a sword. Attached to at the top it was a long shaft, yellow at the bottom but change to red at the top giving it the appearance of the sunset; the bottom had a red ribbon with a star shaped fruit at the end. On one side of the teal hilt there was what appeared to be crashing waves. On the other side there was vine that curved out like the waves but when it returned to the hilt it crawled up the shaft. When the vine nearly the top it left the shaft and turn into a bouquet of multi colored flowers. This was her Keyblade: _Destiny's Embrace_.

Upon summoning her strange weapon the auburn haired girl stepped a few feet back pointing at the refrigerator's lock. She then looked up at the food holding machine and noticed it had gone from a pure white to a morbid magenta. From the shadow she had cast, she concluded that something was emitting light from directly behind her. The girl spun around to see a large double door cabinet on the other side of the room with the ghastly light pouring out of it. She brought her weapon up to a defensive position in her right hand as the cabinet began shaking. This shaking continued until the one thing the girl had prayed would not come out did.

"Found ya!" This voice along with the sound of the cabinet being blasted apart sent girl's finally calmed heart beat racing again. A young boy easily shattered the cabinet and jumped across the room fifteen meters. He slid to a stop standing upright. "Ya know, if you'd just come quietly we wouldn't have to do this the hard way." The boy grabbed her by the collar and pinned her to a wall. "See, I'm the type of guy who likes to keep his reputation the way it should be. My reputation is that of someone who can get anything anywhere. So, are ya gonna come quietly or are ya gonna scream and run around some more?"

After all of the sudden movement, the girl he was questioning finally had a good look at him. His height would make you think he was fourteen but the rest of him argued that point. Caramel brown hair spiked out of his head mostly moving to his right. Some of it spiked forward off the sides of his head protruding a little bit onto his face. The locks of brown also fell half way down his back. While straighter than the ones on his head, these hairs still retained the tendency to form into spiked bundles. His torso was incredibly shocking when compared to his age. Each of the muscles was incredibly well sculpted, defined individually against his slightly tanned skin. His arms spoke the same testimony fully visibly in sleeveless, unzipped sky blue jacket. On both forearms were braces made of a black metal going one-third of way up the forearm. Both were covered in cone shaped metal spikes one of which was in front the auburn haired girl. The majority of his legs were covered by blue jeans which fell slightly below his knees. Strapped to his right leg was a large black pouch that seemed to be completely empty. His eyes particularly caught the girl attention. The look in them was reminiscent of a cruel warrior who slaughtered innocent people for fun. The color, among many other of his facial features, was strikingly similar to the girl whose image had been thoroughly burned into her mind.

"Felix! You fuckin' moron!" The auburn haired girl looked back to where the cabinet once stood. In its ruble was a girl with short orange hair not even reaching her shoulders. The green tank top she was wearing was stained red with blood. There was a large hole in her shirt were the blood seemed to have originated but, there was no sign on her exposed skin a wound had ever been made. Her blue jean hot pants also traces of blood on it. Across her back was a set of tan straps linking onto her shoulders. These straps had a pair of twin pistols set into holsters. Brown army boots were fully laced up on her feet. Her eyes were a deep violet filled with rage toward her supposed friend. She apparently had coughed blood up, as there was some on her chin. "A piece of wood got jammed into my stomach. That hurts like hell!"

Felix turned around looked at her with a cocky smile before responding. "Ah come on, Izzy. You and I both know a few holes aren't enough to kill ya." Isabel simply sighed while walking over to the pair across the room realizing that arguing would do no good seeing as she was perfectly okay. Felix turned backed to the sixteen-year-old with auburn hair. "OK, back to business. First, where can I get one these weird swords? Second, what's your name? I forgot"

When Felix turned around, the auburn haired girl noticed something written on his jacket. His long hair covered some type of black flaming image above but the words in large, fire red letter were plainly visible. They said "Black Phoenix."

The girl giggled to herself as she tried to regain the composure she had lost a moment ago, "Well in order, I don't think _you'd_ be able to use a keyblade," Felix huffed at this statement then a looked that said 'continue.' "And, my name Kai…" Something in the back of her head told her not to say her real name "Um, Umihana."

The look on Felix's face matched his words perfectly. "You suck at lying. Oh well. Not like really care about your name is to begin with. Well, whether you like it or not you've now joined our merry of now six."

Umihana gave a confused look, "Six, where are the other three?" She was sure that they were the only ones in the lounge.

Isabel stepped up from behind Felix and gave something of an explanation, "Those three are either A: hiding somewhere in this ship or B: going at it with the imperial soldiers."

Felix chuckled at this comment, "Personally I'd go with B. We'd be fighting ourselves but I got hungry so, we came in here." He then turned to the refrigerator "that's when you ran in here with those droids hot on your ass." He reached out his right hand and gripped the handle.

Umihana sighed, "Here my Keyblade can…" It was then that she heard the sound of steel being broken. To her shock the refrigerator was now wide open, all its contents accessible with Felix's hand still on the door handle. The sound of metal clanking as it landed on the floor, amazing Umihana. The fourteen-year –old boy had destroyed the lock with force alone. That was when things went from amazing to scary.

The moment Felix opened the refrigerator was the moment the empire realized they were there. A loud whirring alarm and voice spoke over the intercom, "ATTETION ALL SOLDIERS, 'THE CROW' FELIX HUNTER, ONE OF HIS ACCOMPLISES, AND THE ESCAPED PRISONER HAVE BEEN LOCATED IN THE FIFTH LEVEL LOUNGE ROOM. ALL AVAIBLE UNITS MOVE IN IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT…"

"Ah shit" was all that Felix said as he continued to stuff food into the large pouch on his pants.

"Estupido! How can you think about food at a time like this!" Isabel screamed at him. Felix just kept on grabbing food tossing a few pieces into his mouth.

"Calm down, I've got it covered. Who the fuck puts an alarm in a fridge anyway?" Having already stuffed the pouch full with most of the food in the refrigerator, Felix let go of Umihana and sauntered over to roughly the center of the room. Umihana was once again amazed. This time by both how much Felix managed to fit in his pouch while still retain its original size and shape and by how calm he could be in this type of dire situation.

Felix's hair then started to move around strangely. Out of it came a black bird roughly three inches in length. The small bird quickly flew out of Felix's hair and flapped around him briefly before landing on his outstretched arm. During its time in the air the crow seemed to have grown, going from three inches to at least eight. The bird then looked at its master and said "You're a dumbass, caw!"

"Ya wanna say that again huh, Worc!"

"Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass caw!"

"Say shouldn't we be more worried about the soldiers," Umihana finally spoke up after listening to the boy and his bird. The engines of their droids and the roar of their feet could now be plainly heard as the imperial soldiers closed in on the small lounge

"We'll settle this later bird!" Felix shouted as he raised his right leg straight up. On the foot of this leg, a magenta light glowed turning into a similarly colored sphere of energy surrounding the foot. "Isabel! Umihana! You two better get ready." Out the magenta sphere a cylinder began. When the cylinder reached its peak it took the shape of something comparable to an even sided toeless foot.

"Holy shit caw!" was what Worc shouted as he shrank back to three inches and flew into Felix's spiked hair.

Felix smiled as he looked towards Umihana "By the way, don't think I have any obligation to save your life 'cause I don't." Felix could hear soldiers shouting orders in the corridor outside ready there. He smiled even wider; "_Vector Crush!" _was the shout Felix gave as he slammed his foot into the ground. His own incredible physical strength combined with the momentum provided by his Vector was more than enough to cause the floor beneath him to give way instantly. The sudden gap in the area's distribution of weight cause the entire lounge to collapse dropping everything to the level below.

Their fall was roughly fifty meters. Felix and Isabel landed with grace. Felix seeming skied on air skating in the sky as though he were on ice. To Umihana's surprise, Isabel cast the "_Slow_" spell on herself letting her gently float down to the floor. Umihana, however, unable to slow her descent simply crashed into floor. She stood up but was sore in quite a few places. She looked around still dazed to see that they had fallen into corridor similar to the one she ran into the lounge from, except this was much larger.

"_That Piece, it can't be. Vector?_" Umihana thought in her haze.

When Umihana fully came to her senses she noticed a force that reminded her of events of her past. Events that made her leave the island alone to become stronger, to find herself. She turned her head and ten meters to the left stood a figure at least an inch taller than Felix. His skin was a rich brown and his hair was braided into dreadlocks. He had on a crimson red button up shirt the top two buttons of which were undone revealing a little bit of his chest. His sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows and the shirt was completely untucked. He was wearing a pair of loose fitting blue jeans and like Felix had a pouch on his right leg his being green instead of black. A pair of red head phones with a 'B' on each side was around his neck. On his right hip were two empty katana sword sheaths. One was black with red circles running down its full length and the other was white with green circles. Each of his hand had one corresponding sword in it. In the left the blade was pure white so that it would blend in flawless with the snow. In his right hand the blade was as black as night. "Fuckin' great way to drop in, Felix," the boy said putting the black blade over his shoulder. His forest green eyes then strayed over to where Umihana was gazing intently at him. He then smiled, "I see, you're the one fat cat was goin' on about. Don't worry, I'm not interested in ruling the universe or anything. It'd be annoying to manage that many people."

"Yo, Jake, what're ya talkin' about?" Felix asked before he turned to two more familiar faces running down the corridor

"Guys, let's go! Soldiers, guns, robots, death!" The voice had come from a blond furred fox with a white underbelly. On its head was a pair of black rectangular goggles.

"Duffie! Simone!" Felix shouted.

Running next to the fox, a little ahead actually, was a girl with brown skin. Her hair was wavy and snow white. It fell down even longer than Felix's going well past the half way point on her back. Underneath her hair she wore a long sleeved black jacket which she left unzipped revealing a dark purple shirt that cut off a few inches below her breasts showing everything down to her waist. On her belly there were white tattoo like markings that appeared to be a type of ancient language. From then on she black Capri pants on covering most of her legs. She had on a pair of open toed heels on her feet. On her face was a pair of square glasses. On her back was a spear the length of which was at least her own height. The blade at the end was rectangular flatting at the edges for sharpness and coming to a point for stabbing.

Simone and Duffie came to a stop a few feet away from Felix standing on top of what was once a piece of lounge "Alright, Felix, we got our target right?" Simone said as she jumped down off of the rumble. When walked up to him she was at perfect eye level unlike Isabel who had to look up a bit. "And she doesn't look happy." She looked dead at Umihana upon saying this.

"We can do introductions later," Jake walked over holding at his side both of his swords. "Right now, we've got company." The swordsman looked up were the ceiling used to be. There stood multiple soldiers in red and black uniforms a few with rifles aimed at the young group. However, most of them were prepared to descend down armed with swords, clubs and other such weapons. "Great, some weird cat controlling black creatures and the empire on our ass. So much for a day trip."

Umihana looked at Jake with a surprised expression. "_Could she have really followed me this far?"_ She looked around as the group quickly found themselves surrounded on all sides. The soldiers the talking fox had warned about had arrived all but a few barehanded ones were armed.

Felix sighed as he looked at the enemy forces all of whom were preparing to strike. "Alright guys let's split this." A smile appeared on his face. "Me and Izzy will take the ones above. Jake you take what's-her-face," Felix pointed to Umihana who looked just plain insulted, "And handle the ones to my left; Simone and Duffie the right. Sound like plan?"

The orders had barely left Felix's lips, when a proud shout came from the soldiers "In the name of the Faltian crown! In the name of the Faltian crown!" The battle cry escaped their lips as they charge at the group.

Two magenta spheres formed around Felix's hands. Arm like vectors shot out of the spheres and flew back up to what was left of the room he had previously destroyed. They grabbed to the floor got a tight grip as Isabel grabbed on to Felix's neck with her left arm and pulled out one of her pistols with the other. The silver metal fit comfortably in her hand as it had been custom made for her. A metallic click was heard by her spiky haired companion as the pair began their ascent.

The opposition immediately began their assault. Within the first few meters the pair had were showered with gunshots as the soldiers unloaded their rifles. Isabel quickly returned fire. She fired what seemed to be random shots at the ring above them. Her bullets were strange to most viewers. All of them had an eerie, silver glow to them as though they had been amplified by some strange, outside force. Each of them was a perfect dead accurate hit. Blood could be seen being ejected out the soldier's bodies as each bullet connected dropping their weapons as they fell.

Felix grunted in pain. Up above a pair of soldiers was stepping on the vector hands Felix had sent up to the room. One the hands let go fell down back to its owner. Felix stopped the retraction mid-way and the vector fell limply to his side. Still flying upward at least thirty meters high, Felix smiled and balled his hand into a fist. His limp vector responded becoming a fist as well. The boy then threw the fisted vector upward at incredible speeds. "_Vector Fist!_" escaped Felix's lips just before contact was made. The feeling of the soldiers face being rearranged surged through Felix's hand as blood splattered across the destroyed lounge's floor. Within seconds he and Isabel were standing in the spot the now unconscious soldier did.

They stood surrounded by soldiers not paying much attention to the orders that were shouted. The two of them high fived and prepared themselves to fight Isabel pulling out her second pistol. Without thinking twice she fired them simultaneously at two soldiers who had charged her with swords. They fell to the ground and she fired at different angles landing shots on the soldiers.

Felix focused his attention on the droids that had been chasing Umihana. There were four in all each fifteen feet tall. On each of their chests there was a shield insignia black on one side red on the other. There was a black or red griffon facing each on their counterparts color. In between the griffons there was a seven pointed star with a crown at the top. They fired at Felix who took full advantage of the close quarters. He moved around the soldiers using them as shields rather than charge straight at it. When he got close to one of them he threw a punch at the crest knocking it over and leaving a huge dent. Felix wrapped his Vectors around it swung it around crashing into the soldiers and the other droids. They were damaged but not destroyed. He pulled the one he had grabbed close and smashed his fist into its chest ripping out a blue cylindrical tube that he quickly pocketed it.

Isabel pressed her gun against the chest of a soldier shooting through him and hitting someone else. She holstered her own pistols, took the rifle one of the soldiers had been holding, and began firing amplifying the bullets with magic. Soldiers were being mowed down quickly until on stabbed Isabel from behind with a rapier. She dropped the rifle and threw a kick to the man's stomach. "Well, ain't that an inconvenience." She said pulling her pistols back out.

**Pieces**

Down below, Jake and Umihana charged straight at the throng of soldiers they assigned to defeat. Above the enemies, towered large human like machines armed with machine guns and an arsenal of other firearms. Each of the droids took aim at the intruder and escapee and rained bullets at them along with the soldiers. Jake had no problem dealing with them avoiding well over half and the ones could not dodge he sliced at with his two katana. Umihana had a much harder time than her current captor. Her Keyblade barely serve as a shield to her and unlike Jake she could not see the bullets coming. Jake quickly realized her plight began to run directly in front her drastically lessening the bullets coming her way.

For them and the soldiers, the charge felt like an eternity, but in reality only twenty seconds had gone by. Jake jumped into the air upon reaching the frontline and flew at the foremost droid. He raised both his katana into the air over his head as a black energy surged out of his hands and into the swords. The black blade disappeared into cloud of darkness whereas the white seemed liked it been surrounded on all sides. "_Dark Falls!_" Jake, now directly above the droid, brought both swords down arching his back in process. Two condensed black waves o f energy came out of the blades, falling down upon the machine. At the point of contact with floor a shockwave was created that knocked any soldiers unfortunate to be near by flying, crashing into their comrades. The droid then split into three. The left and right sides fell down ending up on top of a few soldiers. Middle section dropped onto ground. When Jake's descent began, he prepared his next attack targeting two droids taking aim at him. One-fourth of the way down, Jake unleashed two more black slashes. "_Dark Rush!_" as he so aptly named it flew out at the droids slicing them both in two at waist. Both attacks went clean through and ended up hitting soldiers behind them.

Upon reaching the half-way point of his descent, Jake felt an agonizing pain course throughout his body. For moment his whole body glowed with a whitish-blue color except for his eyes which lit up into a lighter shade of green. His plannned course through the air thrown off, Jake found himself right in front of a remaining droid. The electricity finally subsided and his eyes stopped glowing. "_Memorized_" was uttered as Jake brought his white sword back and proceeded to slice through his current opponent. The swordsman kicked off the top half of the droid propelling him back into and over to the last one remaining. Whoever attacked with the electricity a moment ago decided to try again. This time Jake's eyes started glowing again. "_Cancel: Static Build Up." _The orb of electricity disappeared to the horror of its owner and Jake continued on his flight unimpeded. As he came up on the final droid, Jake crossed his swords into an X, black over white. For a moment he disappeared from sight. An instant later he reappeared on the opposite side of the group of soldiers a black X appearing on the last droid leaving it in four pieces. Jake re-sheathed his swords saying "Wow, that was highly disappointing," with a smile on his face.

On the other side of the group, Umihana was having a more difficult time at it. Not having nearly as much combat experience as Jake, she often times found herself at a loss for her next move. To make matters worse, she found it impossible to ignore the amount of darkness her companion was exhuming. She could not help but to notice that it was different than any other darkness she had felt. It had lurid calmness to it similar to his so far seen personality and no sinister evil in it either. It was almost natural Jake had it. However, there was something eerily familiar about it.

After escaping this short thought, Umihana found herself surrounded by imperial soldiers. She quickly remembered the best close ranged technique she could use. "_Fira!"_ was her choice and on queue a four large fire balls ignited around her and began to swirl in circles in close proximity. The soldiers who were attacking her were blown back and burned by the spell and others stood back in awe. One of them became bold and charged with a double blade axe. To make it even more intimidating the axe caught fire along with both arms. Umihana brought Destiny's Embrace up to her head and shouted "_Reflect._" A honey-comb shaped barrier formed. Upon making contact with barrier, the axe man was sent hurtling backwards, landing near the remains of one of the droids. At that moment Jake arrived in the mob finally ready to give his partner back up. On his way there he had defeated many of the soldiers standing in his way.

**Piece**

At the other side of the corridor two figures stood poised for combat. Simone had her spear in her right hand the entirety of which was ignited. Her left hand, both feet, and the end of her snow white hair all burned in an ominous purple flame. Despite the fact that her body was on fire the air around her was rather cool and falling in temperature.

Next to her a curly, blond haired boy who was much shorter than his companion, stood nervously. His orange eyes gave him an ever downcast look no matter how happy he was. His shaking hands were completely covered by an orange polo shirt with sleeves too long for him. His quivering legs were covered to the knees by khaki shorts with large pockets in them. On his head were black rectangular goggles. "You know, with how strong you are you could take out all these guys by yourself." He slowly took a step back towards the ruble. He then took a look at the four droids they were faced with. "Even those droids wouldn't stand chance against you. So how about I just hang out and watch by the mess Felix made."

Simone's left hand, no longer on fire, picked the now turned around boy up off his feet by the collar and dropped him down in front of herself. "Duffie, how about you take of droids and I handle the soldiers. Machines are your specialty, right?" She re-ignited her hand and ran at incredible speed to the crowd of soldiers

Duffie finally conceded rolling up his left sleeve fully exposing his fore arm. At first sight the arm seemed completely normal. That is when a ten by ten centimeter rectangle outline appeared on it. The rectangle began to jut out of his arm being held up by two small six inch long poles. A holographic screen appeared and words saying "Forced system interface commencing" were on it. Within a second "Interface complete" appeared on the screen and image of what seemed to be a droid's system status appeared posthaste. Duffie gave a sly smile as one of the droids began to act strangely. Its movements began to jeopardize the soldiers that were near. The droid then pulled out a machine gun and began firing on one of its own. The optical lens that was mounted at what seemed like its head was blown to bits and shrapnel fell all around it.

All the while, Simone had been going head-to-head with the soldiers. Many found themselves with severe burn wounds having received fiery kicks and punches from the white haired girl. At times some of them made an attempt to strike at her from air. At those times Simone swiped her spear in the cutting her attacker and leaving them burned. That is when the soldiers made an attempted attacking from all sides. "_Ardente murum__!_" was her cry as a circular wall of purple flames surging out of the floor surrounded her. The soldiers attempting their pincer attack were engulfed in fire and collapsed on the ground covered in burns. The metallic ground actually felt rather comfortable being extremely cool with little patches of ice forming on it.

The machine Duffie had taken over completed its task of eliminating its counter parts before shutting down. The screen in the blonds' arm began to show the building structure and calculate the quickest escape route as Simone continued her ravaging of the enemy.

Back in the lounge Felix and Isabel were just about finished with the force they had previously fled from. Worc flew over head keeping a safe distance away from the battle. Felix had thoroughly destroyed the droids he faced putting them in a condition that was far beyond repair. The few remaining soldiers were facing Isabel who had the rapier removed from her and was holding the pistol in her left hand straight at them. "May St. Mary have grace on your souls," Just then the barrel of her gun began to glow a white light. "_Bala de Plata_" she said as she pulled trigger. One of the soldiers gave one last battle cry and attempted to charge at the female gunman with his sword. By the time he got his first foot forward he had been hit by one of the multiple magic bullets that had been simultaneously fired. His blood flew out of his stomach and spilled onto the floor beneath. It was same result with his two comrades.

With Isabel's threat of St. Mary, quite a few of them were actually dead or dying. She made no attempt to miss the vital points. Felix had made little effort to hold back himself shattering bones and rupturing organs. It was the same with the rest of the group. They showed no mercy or concern for their opponents only seeking to finish them off. Especially Isabel who seemed to enjoy making others suffer.

Seeing as there was no one left to fight Felix, Isabel, and Worc all headed back down to the lower level. This time the pair did not bother with slowing their descent. Felix hit ground making a loud thud upon doing so; he seemed completely unfazed by the powerful impact. Isabel's drop did not end in a thud so much as a crack. She landed directly on her feet; however, her body was not as sturdy her friend's and she ended up breaking her own legs. "Fuck, maybe that wasn't such a good idea", she said as plopped down onto her butt.

She winced in pain as she straightened the bones in her legs. Felix found her situation quite laughable, "Ha! And you say I'm a dumbass" he said between chuckles.

By the time the pair had made their entrance, the rest of the group were standing at the pile of rubble. Duffie was still working on his arm computer when a bright light began to shine from area he and Simone fought their group of soldiers. Everyone looked over as the light became even larger. There was a spiral hatch opening itself revealing the light of the sun. Once the hatch was fully opened the group gazed out at the blue sky wondering why it would so suddenly. "You're welcome" Duffie said with an arrogant smile.

As the group stared at sky, the sound of a jet engine roared throughout the large corridor which they now realized was an indoor launch pad. At the side Jake and Umihana had fought came an airship. They cockpit was made out of glass, hyper compressed for safety. There were four engines. Two on the back end and two mounted on the sides. It was painted the empires tradition red and black with shield insignia on the underbelly.

"Did you really it would be that easy?" A voice said from the ship. The ship landed next them whipping up a gust as it did so. Its landing gear hit the floor with a clank. Out of its underbelly a hatch was let down revealing a staircase into the cockpit. Out of came one soldier much more decorated the others. "The Faltian Empire will not stand such insolence any longer. Felix Hunter, you have been thorn in our side for far too long. Destroying Imperial, attacking Imperial military bass, aiding enemies of the state; for these crimes you under arrest. Come quietly and you all will receive proper executions."

"Fuck you." Felix held up the middle finger.

"Fine then. Behold the power that will be your demise! This Piece has leveled Corpse Climbers from across the universe, struck terror in the hearts of rebels! You will not stand a chance against the overwhelming might of…"

"Shut the fuck up!" Felix delivered a powerful upper cut to the man's chin sending him flying in the opposite direction. "What the hell were ya tryin' to do sell us the damn ability or what?" Isabel was the first the climb in the ship the soldier had left behind her legs having recovered from her fall. She was followed by Felix, Duffie, Simone, and Jake. Felix popped his head out and looked at Umihana. "Ya realize if ya stay you're gonna be thrown jail for life. Bein' seen with us tends to make people seem like the bad guys as far as Faltia is concerned." Umihana still did not move. "Again with the hard way." Felix threw his Vector at her grabbed her by her collar and pulled her in with little effort.

Umihana stood back up as the hatch closed to the airship closed. The interior was rather nice looking. There were eleven cushioned sheets counting the pilot's. Over each seat there was a compartment for weapons, luggage and other such things. The floors were the same color metal as the corridor's that being black.

Felix attempted to take the wheel but Jake grabbed by the shoulder and tossed him out the seat, "If you fly, we'll die looking like idiots," was his explanation. He set his katana down on the left side of the seat and got a grip on the wheel. A holographic screen came on in front of asking if he wanted manual or auto pilot mode. Jake chose manual.

Outside the engines came to life again as the ship slowly lifted off the ground. The landing gear returned to its hidden location by the time Jake centered the craft within the corridor. Everyone had sat down in a seat preparing for their departure. Jake hit the throttle and caused the airship the careen down the corridor into the sky. Jake flew straight forward not taking time to look back at the massive warship they had just escaped.

"Hey, check out what grabbed in that fight." Felix pulled the tube he ripped from the droid. Everyone except Isabel and Umihana turned pale upon. The ship immediately increased in speed. "What the big deal. It doesn't look that important."

"Felix, that part is an AR series AMP core antimatter/matter reaction stabilizer!" Duffie shouted in terror. Umihana quickly realized the situation.

"Uh, that sounds important."

"Felix, you do realize what happens when an AMP core becomes unstable, right?" Jake asked with caution in his voice.

Felix thought for a moment. "Oh… Floor it!"

**Pieces**

One of the surviving soldiers from the lounge crawled over to droid that Felix removed the stabilizer from. A bluish light came from the hole as the man was looked on in horror. A field of energy blew him back before he reach his com-link preventing him from warning his comrades. Either way it was too late.

**Pieces**

Umihana and her current captors looked back as an explosion engulfed the majority of the warship destroying the engines and almost everything that was not in the main command center. What was left of the ship began to fall through the clouds leaving a fading trail of smoke as it did.

"_What have gotten us into?_" Umihana thought as she saw the airship fall to planet below.

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Felix Hunter "The Crow"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece- "Vector: Icarus"_

_Imperial Bounty: 220,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-leader_

_Weapon: arm braces_

* * *

_Name: Isabel Cortez _"_La Bala de Plata"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece- "Regeneration" /Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: 50,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-gunman_

_Weapon: pistol_

* * *

_Name: Umihana "Flowering Key"_

_Age: 16_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: 10,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: unknown _

_Weapon: keyblade_

* * *

_Name: Jacob Marshall "Six Blade"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-"Cancel" /Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: 170,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-swordsman_

_Weapon: katana_

* * *

_Name: Duffie Barret "Zero Fox"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-beast (model fox)_

_Imperial Bounty: 34,000,000 munny_

_Affilition: Black Phoenix-weapon master_

_Weapon: machine arm_

* * *

_Name: Simone Boneau "Icy Flames"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-"Touching Release"_

_Imperial Bounty: 180,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-historian_

_Weapon: spear_

* * *

**_And the story begins. Thanks for reading. See Ya!_**


	2. Cornel Stelea

_**Chapter number two. Where am I going with this? I'll figure it out as I go along.**_

* * *

**Chapter two**

"**Cornel Stelea"**

The new crew of the stolen airship had left the planet's atmosphere and began the journey to their true destination. They were headed to a planet on the other side of the galaxy. They had to be careful though. The Faltian Empire's hands reached even out there. Umihana gazed out at the stars as they flew through space. It had been an hour and a half since the escape from her captors and at least another four until they reached their destination. She wanted to take nap while she waited for their arrival but a voice kept her from doing so.

_"Maybe you should go home now" _the voice said in a quiet gentle way.

_"Why should I, Naminé? It's not like I've been kidnapped." _She thought back at the voice known as Naminé.

"_You were arrested,_" a straight forward and unarguable retort "_Plus there's a bounty on your head if you hadn't noticed._"

"_Anything else you wanna add?_"

"_It seems a certain witch and her crony has located you._" Umihana did not reply. Jake had earlier mentioned a fat cat and black creatures. She knew full well who they were but did not admit to it. "_And your new captors obviously know your name's not 'Umihana'_"

Umihana pondered Namine's words as she took a look around the cabin they were in. Jake was sitting in the pilot's seat with his hands at the controls making sure they did not crash into anything or anyone that was flying in space. Felix the apparent leader of the group was out cold after stuffing his face with the food he taken from the refrigerator. Before falling asleep Felix informed Umihana that pouch he had strapped to his thigh was equipped with a technology that increased its mass storage capacity which allowed him to procure a large amount of food in the small space. The same could be said for Jake's with the exception of that he would use the pouch for things other than food.

For some reason Simone was staring intently at Umihana as though she were attempting to read her mind. Her jacket was off revealing a dagger strapped to her left arm. The long spear Simone carried was resting against her seat. Duffie was tinkering with one of Isabel's pistols. Apparently something had been rattling inside of it and Isabel wanted it fixed. Both of Duffie's over sized sleeves were rolled up revealing a pair of rather scrawny arms. Within his right sleeve was a massive reserve of tools even some power tools. His left sleeve contained his mechanical arm that had a built in computer.

Isabel herself was merely gazing out the cockpit looking out at the stars as they flew by. She was actually contemplating why Umihana was able to wield the legendary Keyblade. According to what she heard the Keyblade chooses one with a strong heart. Her heart was more than strong. She had been to hell and back in her short lifetime. So why was it her chosen to be its wielder? Another thing she could not ignore was how much power Umihana possessed. The light in her heart filled the room up almost so that Isabel could not feel her own power. Also she was terrible at using it. Isabel herself was repressing her own power inside her heart. The same was with Jake. Only people with powerful magical abilities could dwarf them. However, Umihana did not seem to be nearly as skilled or experienced as either of them yet the raw power she had was overwhelming. Could she even drive? What was her real name? Isabel had been told but could not quite remember. Anyone could see through her lie at the lounge. Does even she realize how much power she possesses? And why does it feel like there are two people inside of her. Isabel wanted all of these questions and more answered.

Umihana had questions of her own. Why were they so good at fighting? She wondered why she was asking that. Did she not leave her home to become stronger? They all seemed like good people anyway. Felix was an outgoing person with his eyes always on the prize. His attitude seemed to make him a born-leader with an uncanny ability to convince people into becoming his ally quickly. The skill also worked in reverse causing him to have just as many enemies. But, why was there a bird living in his hair? He and Isabel apparently were long time friends. She tended to balance out Felix's reckless and keep him from performing even more reckless stunts than he already did. Though, she didn't seem too much brighter having broken her own legs back on the airship.

Jake seemed to be like Felix to a degree, however, he was more reserved. He had a sharp wit in both conversation and in combat. A skilled swordsman, he used two unique swords at once. His white sword, Gekkō no kage, was much lighter than most swords while the black sword, Yozora no kage, was extremely heavy.

Duffie, as expected, was a mechanical genius. He designed Isabel current pistols, hence was the only one who could fix them, and had built a variety of the weapons and inventions at his friends' disposal. He was usually a nervous person who underestimated his own potential but Felix his friends usually forced him into dangerous situations due their own lack of concern.

Simone was much harder for Umihana to read than the rest. The sharp look she was giving only made her seem even sterner. Something about her overwhelmed Umihana. It was as though her existence itself was asking for answers.

"_She's obviously on to you._" The voice in Umihana's head returned. "I_f she starts coming after you, you'll have to explain to them who we are and why they're fighting too._"

"_No, they won't be fighting."_

"_What do you mean by that?_" It took Namine a second to realize what she had meant. "_Have you lost it! You can't beat Maleficent alone! I mean you could but not without using all your power which you refuse to do._"

Isabel and Jake suddenly became more aware of their immediate surroundings. Simone eyes sharpened as something began to bother her. Duffie was prepared to hand Isabel her repaired pistol, but eased back having sensed the tension in the air. He was completely oblivious of what it was about, however. Felix simply continued snoring.

"_Why the hell can't I? I've gotten a lot stronger since I left the islands and you know it!_" Umihana yelled this in her mind not noticing that all conscious bodies except Jake who was busy with flying but paying attention nonetheless, were now looking at her. The anger on her face was as red as her hair and almost impossible to ignore. "_Besides, the power I used back on the airship was more than Sora had when he fought her._"

"_Sora had Donald and Goofy's help! Look, I understand what you're saying about proving yourself but at this point your just rushing to your death!_"

"_What do you care if I die or not!_"

Jake and Isabel's expressions had gone from aware to frustrated.

"_Isn't that obvious! If you get killed, I'd die even faster than the erosion will kill me._"

"Would you both shut the fuck up!" Jake's voice erupted from the pilot's seat as Umihana and Naminé reached the peak of their argument. Isabel carried the same looked on her face still glaring at Umihana. Duffie did not have the slightest what clue what had just happened and simply looked back and forth at Jake and Umihana. Simone returned to a more passive position in her chair but still looked upon the situation with curiosity. Having been woken up by the sudden outburst, Felix looked around the cabin completely clueless as to the events that transpired during his slumber.

That is when things began to make less sense. From behind the interstellar vessel came a red hot stream of metal. The new ship flew incredibly fast even in space speeds, far too fast for them to evade. Just as it seemed like an unavoidable collision the new craft careened to the left before returning to its original path.

With the exception of Umihana, every on board their stolen vehicle seemed not to be concerned with the sudden assault of speed. Felix shook his head and gave a slight smile. "Poor bastard. Wonder where they sent him to." To understand what had just occurred one must turn back the clock to a few hours ago, at the place Felix and company call home.

**Pieces**

The pair from Umihana's island stood in the large city. Its streets were filled with countless people most of which were wearing suits and ties. An endless stream of commuters filled the area running in and out of subway stations, business buildings and the aerodrome the pair had just exited themselves. There were also youth among these commuters most of whom wore school uniforms. It was to be expected. At seven-thirty in the morning the planet had finished its coffee and was prepared for a new day. This was Daltus, the capital city of the planet Mongram.

Mongram with its technological superiority in both airship and weaponry was independent of Faltia and lived peaceful within its own part of space. Large skyscrapers filled Daltus along with its other major cities. The rural parts of the planet had rich soil and bountiful harvest each year making Mongram a self sufficient planet despite its small size. Exchange with the empire was also known to take place inviting cultures from all across the galaxy to meet. Refugees from war were among its populace fully excepted among most people. Because of this all sorts of pieces, magic and other abilities were seen among its population.

The silver and spiky haired boys stood at the city expanse; however, they were not alone on their journey. Just behind them were three people each taking in the sights for themselves. Directly behind them was a brown haired girl the length of which curled up preventing it from falling onto her back. To their left was a boy with dirty blond hair wearing an ornate set of clothing. To the right a tall orange haired boy with a blue and white ball under his left arm stood.

"Wow! This city is so big, and look at all the stores. I bet there I plenty there are plenty of sweets for me to try." The brown haired girl ran in front of her spiky haired friend and trapped him within a hug. "Ooh, Sora, thank you so much for letting me come."

Sora broke the hug just in time to hear a 'Get a room!' from crowd. "Selphie, we're not here for sightseeing, right, Riku." Sora looked to his silver haired companion.

"Huh, yeah right. We're here on business. Remember." Truth be told, Riku had been taking the sight in himself. The advanced technology here far surpassed what they had back on their islands and he was not so used to the large mass of commuters before him.

"Sora, you need to loosen up, ya. I get that you're worried about Kairi but ya gotta let yourself go sometimes." The tall boy walked out in front next to Selphie.

"Wakka and Selphie are right. We're in an awesome place like this we may as well have some fun." The blond stood next to his friends and looked Sora in the eyes.

"Tidus, come on, we need to find her." Sora's patience was wearing thin at this point.

Selphie put a pout on her face realizing Sora would not yield, "Alright. Find this 'Crow', ask him if he knows anything, then go shopping."

"Nope," Riku shook his, "Knowing this sap, he'll have us of out of here before we can find a shop."

"It's no use. You should have fun and wait a few days." A female and somewhat depressed sounding voice came from behind Sora and Riku. When they turned around they found girl with straight jet black hair falling all the down to her waist. The hair in front covered the left half of her face and fell down just below her chin. What could be seen of her face showed a dark blue eye gazing at the group of older teens. Most of her thighs were covered by a red skirt she wore with a white button up shirt. Her lower legs were covered by brown shoes and knee high socks. Across her left shoulder was a black bag.

"What do you mean 'it's no use'?" Sora was not in the mood for games as it were right now.

"Crow isn't in town right now," she stated matter-of-factly. "Going to his home would only cause trouble for you. His roommate isn't as laid back as he is."

"Shizuko! Hey! Wait up!" An older boy with short, grey hair was calling out from the crowd. He was wearing a red jacket and pants with a tie and white shirt underneath the jacket. After weaving his way through he finally reached Sora's group. A closer look at him showed his eyes were light blue. He seemed to be at least Selphie's age at around fifteen. "Sis, come on. We gotta get to school."

Shizuko turned her head toward her apparent brother, "Why bother, Tatsuo-san? I'm smarter than everyone there, including the teachers."

"Wait!" Sora cut in on their little dispute "Do you know where he is right now?"

Shizuko turned her head back towards Sora. The look on what was visible of her face was expressionless. "Even if I did know, why would I tell you? I just met you."

"Okay then," Riku spoke up "Do you know about a girl with star tattoo right here" He gestured to his right arm as he said this and the pair raised their eyebrows.

"Maria?" Tatsuo spoke up after a moment of silence. "What would you want with her?"

"We think she knows where our friend, Kairi, is." There was an agitation in Sora's voice as he said this.

"A lead we got led here to this city." Riku pulled a photograph. Sure enough, Felix and the star tattooed girl were standing closely next to each other smiling. Felix was on the right while the girl was on the left. Both had one arm across the others back while their free hand flashed the peace sign. Maria's big blue sun hat was hanging on her neck by a string while her tattoo was plainly visible. Sora grimaced at the sight of the picture. How could a person who was so cold towards them be smiling like that?

Shizuko and Tatsuo took a quick glance at the photo and came to a simple conclusion. "So, you fought and lost to Maria on one her jobs and think she has something to do with your missing girlfriend?" Shizuko cold voice rang on Sora's ears.

"'Jobs'. What do you mean 'jobs'?"

Tatsuo began to rub the back of his own grey head. "Well ya see Maria's a mercenary." A nervous sincerity laid in his voice. "She was probably hired to do something and ending up having to fight you. She's not the type of person to go around looking for trouble."

"Bullshit! Do honestly expect me to believe that crap" Sora fumed his frustration out. The whole time they had been searching for this girl, this was the first solid clue they had and he was not ready to let it slip through their fingers.

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Its grip tightened slightly preventing Sora from wriggling his way out. "Sora, calm down. You're letting your emotions get the better of you."

Riku's hand was suddenly thrown off allowing Sora to turn and look directly at his friend. "What happened to following your heart? Right now my heart's telling me to march down to this bird guy's place, kick his ass, and make him tell me where this girl is now!"

Sora's shouting managed to easily attract the attention of the commuters giving them a morning dose of curiosity before continuing on their daily routines. Tatsuo was now desperate to calm him down "Shizuko already told you, he's not in town. Besides, in all honesty I don't think you beat him anyways." Not the best choice of words, but poor Tatsuo could not think of anything else to say. "And the guy who's watching his place will kill you in a heartbeat. Look, I'm sure Felix would be more than willing to talk it over with you if you just wait."

"I'm done waiting! I don't know about you guys," Sora said turning to four friends, "But going to settle this right now." With that the spiky haired boy stormed off.

A deep sigh came from Tatsuo, "And the idiot blinded by love rushes off to his own death. Shizuko we'd better… Shizuko?" A quick look around led Tatsuo to the realization that his little sister had had left him behind "She's so cold. Sorry gotta run. You'd better stop your friend. Cornel isn't the type to hold back."

Just as he turned to leave he was interrupted by a high pitched voice, "Say, what are you doing after school?"

Tatsuo scratched the back of his head "Well, the only thing on my schedule is checking to see if your friend is alive or not." A slight blush appeared on his face as he looked at the brunette. "_Wow, she's pretty cute_. I could give you a tour of the city if you want."

"Okay then, it's a date." Selphie moved closer as the blush on Tatsuo's face became more prominent.

A sheepish smile appeared on his "Um sure. _Did she just say 'date_'?" He then pulled out a red cell and pushed a few bottoms. Beeping sounds then came out of the group's pockets as the cell phone was put away. "I just sent you guys my phone number. Call me around noon so we can talk about the details." Tatsuo turned away again as he said this.

"Say, one more question." Tatsuo still retained a strange mix of nervous dignity on his face as he turned back around to face Riku once more. "You're a 'corpse climber', the 'Rising Dragon' Tatsuo Gin. Why are you being so nice to us? We just met a few minutes ago. Besides, most 'corpse climbers' haven't been so hospitable."

"Well the idea that all corpse climbers are blood thirsty killers is just a stereo type the Faltian Empire created." When compared to anything he said previously, his words were filled with bold confidence. "Guys like Felix are the majority of us. I mean don't me get wrong, there are people who abuse their strength and act like kings, but Black Phoenix will more than often go out its way to put a stop to it. I mean sure he can be bit of jerk sometimes and rude and violent and uncaring but he means well, usually." Tatsuo then looked up at a clock in front of the aerodrome. Seven-forty. "Ah shit! See ya! _I said all that stuff to call them down. If he gets pissed at something, anything between and it is as good as dead. And considering how bad his temper can be…_" The grey haired school boy then rocketed off into the crowd, waving back as he did so. A second passed before he was obscured from sight inside the sea of people.

All remaining eyes were then turned on Selphie. "What?" Her friends could not tell if she feigning cluelessness or whether she truly was obliviously.

"'It's a date'. That guy could be an enemy." Tidus said after watching the entire affair take place.

Selphie began to pout again "But he was cute. And besides don't we have more important things to worry about." The boys in her presence know that she was referring to the AWOL Sora who had run off a moment earlier.

"Look, I'm gonna go find the sap and stop him before he gets himself hurt or causes unnecessary trouble." Riku took a look at a still pouting Selphie. "We've got more four hours before noon. We'll meet back here later and talk about what to do about Tatsuo. You guys just do whatever 'til I call you, alright"

The threesome nodded as Riku walked in the direction opposite of Sora. He was pretty sure a train could get to his destination faster than Sora.

**Pieces**

Red Oaks Academy was a government run school like all the others in Daltus running from seventh to twelfth grade. In its halls walked over fifteen-hundred students all making their way to their lockers or classroom. Each student was in the red based uniform living up to the school's name sake. Chatter about sports, television, gossip, and anything else that comes to one's mind could be heard throughout the school.

It was the same in room 2504. Some students talked about anything interesting that happened between then and the last they saw one another. Others were finishing homework or studying. There were those who were getting in some last minute sleep before school. In the very corner of the square of desks away from everyone else sat Shizuko Kuroha who was peacefully gazing out the window she sat next to. Outside she could see Tatsuo dashing into the school at superhuman speeds appearing as a red blur to the untrained eye. Apparently his chat at the aerodrome took a lot longer than she had thought it would. Most people while startled by his sudden entrance were not surprised by his incredible speed. There were multiple ways of obtaining superhuman speed. The boy came to a stop before going into the school building but was still in hurry as there were only six minutes until class began.

Shizuko's tranquil gazing was interrupted by a voice that to her was the incarnation of some god commanding all things stuck up and annoying. "Hey, emo bitch." Shizuko turned her head away from the window and looked up to see a girl with purple curly hair standing next to her desk. Behind her stood two others all three holding the stuck up look on their faces.

A sigh left Shizuko's lips "Nanami and you pathetic cronies who only hang out with her to look cool but in truth are even more shallow and pathetic than she is, what do you want?" She then turned back to the window as though she did not care for the answer because she did not.

The pair in the background was appalled by her cold and direct insult. Nanami seemed rather unmoved by her words, however. Their cycle had been going on since the day they met and did not seem like it would change anytime soon. Nanami slammed her right hand onto Shizuko's desk which prompted the latter to turn and face the former. "Listen up you emo. My father could get you expelled before you could say 'corpse climber.' Don't tempt me." This was a half-empty threat. Nanami's father was vice-principle, however, there was no real reason to expel Shizuko. In fact her verbal abuse was enough to get her into some troublr.

"You're forgetting two things." Shizuko's voice remained in the same monotone as it had at the aerodrome. "One, I could give two shits about whether or not I go to school. Two, I could kill you where you stand." Nanami winced in anger. She knew full well both these facts were true. In fact Shizuko was at the top of top the class in terms of academics. However, she didn't seem to care usually responding to a good grade with a sarcastic "Hooray."

The three minute warning bell rang and clatters of students moving to homeroom from their current location filled the building. Nanami and her hounds retreated to their desks and snickered about what were most likely insults towards Shizuko. The homeroom teacher, Mr. Zed, walked into the room right when the class bell rang and began to take attendance posthaste. Shizuko barely noticed when her name was called responding with a hardly audible 'here' then returned to her window gazing. Mr. Zed was used to her behavior though he was concerned. Many were the days were she came to school with injuries or simply did not come at all always refusing to give an explanation.

After role call was over Mr. Zed called Shizuko up to his desk. "Miss Kuroha, I would like to speak with you after school. Will that be okay?" In truth he wanted speak during lunch but he had a meeting then.

Shizuko sighed at this and replied, "Sure." This was not the first teacher to request a meeting. Though she did not become a corpse climber until a about a year and half ago, her personality, habits, and injury proneness had not changed.

**Pieces**

Sora was still cutting through the streets like lion after its prey. The people he bumped into were not too thrilled about a teenager running around the city during school hours, let alone one who showed no manners.

As the boy continued a voice began to ring in his head, "_I think you should stop and try to think this through. You're probably running straight for a trap._"

"_I don't care if it is a trap or not. This is my best chance at finding Kairi._"

"_Look, you're just going off an assumption here. So what they know the star tattoo girl? There's good chance they don't even know Kairi exists. Let alone been kidnapped._" The voice's tone seemed to be growing in frustration.

"_Roxas, don't you want to find Naminé._"

Roxas grunted at this coment, "_You realize you and Kairi's feeling's for each other are just being projected on to us, right. We're more like brother and sister when you think about._"

"_Is that important right now?"_

"_You brought it up. What I'm saying is you could just be charging into a fruitless battle. Let's stop and try to get a better grasp of the situation._" Sora continued to dash forward trough crowd which was slowly thinning as the rush to work and school drew to close. He seemed to be ignoring Roxas not so much as slowing in his pace. "_I guess it's worthless._"

**Pieces**

Riku found himself faced with a new challenge on his journey to intercept an AWOL Sora. In front of him was a grey metal door that had opened on its own. Inside some people were remaining in while others flooded out. The silver haired boy found himself in awe at the cities technology when a voice rang throughout the area "ATTENTION PASSENGERS, THIS IS THE MARAN SHANJI TRAIN. ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO BOARD ARE ASKED TO DO SO IN AN ODERLY MANNER AFTER ALL EXITING PASSENGERS ARE OFF THE TRAIN AND ON TO THE YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WHILE ONBOARD WE ASKED THAT YOU REPORT THEM TO OUR OFFICERS WITHIN THE TRAIN. WE THANK AGAIN FOR RIDING THE DALTUS SUBWAY SYSTEM."

Riku was amazed by the train. He could only wonder how they got it down there in the first place. He stood motionless for a few seconds taking in the piece of metal before an agitated voice snapped him out of his trance, "Fuck, are you gonna stand there like a moron all day or are ya gonna get on." Riku turned around and saw a wave of green in the lower parts of his eyes. He then looked down to see a boy whose profane mouth had released these words. His green hair had two bangs that fell on either side of his and flared out off the back of his head. The angered face he had on was only enhanced in rage by his blood red eyes. The skin was somewhat pale making his eyes stand out even further. The rest of him was in a grey sweat suit.

Riku recognized him as easily as he did Tatsuo a half hour ago. "The 'Blood Chain' Cornel Stelea." His voice seemed to roll on as he made the statement. In a way, Riku predicted his friend's reckless action and researched those directly affiliated with the one known as Felix Hunter. The green haired boy in front of him slanted his eyes into a dead serious look. It was obvious he was prepared for a fight. "Don't worry. I just wanna talk."

Cornel sneered at him. "If you're about send a load of bullshit at me I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

Both parties boarded the train and took a seat next to each other. Cornel had his hands in his pockets with his head looking downward. He started the conversation saying, "So spill it. What the hell do ya want?"

"A friend of mine is charging guns blazing down to you guys' base and I kinda hoping you tell your friends there not to kill him." Riku looked at him with some hope of a good response.

Cornel looked up at Riku's face next and replied, "Please, you think my word can stop them. Crow's the only one who can tell us what to do and even then we usually ignore him." Distraught came over Riku's as he these words. Cornel continued, "What the fuck are you worrying about. Unless Shizuko skipped school, the only ones who should be there are Sander and Xia. Neither of them would just kill the guy." Riku breathed a sigh of relief, "Tie the bastard up, stick him on a raft, and set him out to sea without a paddle, maybe, but not kill him."

Cornel seemed to be enjoying the changes in Riku's face while Riku was not sure just how to act with this guy. He was obviously younger than Riku, but he was not quite sure what he was capable of. The bounty the empire had on his head was 23,000,000 munny, small when compared to Felix's. However, Riku learned the hard way that one's bounty is not determined by strength remembering a scar that was on his back.

Riku realized his best chance of keeping Sora from whatever horrible fate could possibly awaited him was to get there first. However, his plan was ruined when loud sound came from under the train. Flames flew up from outside the window. Cornel and Riku already were standing up as train began to tilt onto the side they were sitting on. People screaming could be heard clearly throughout the cars. The metal grinding against the tunnel walls produced bright sparks adding to the terrifying image. Being directly against wall stopped the train's tilt but did little to slow it down letting it screech down the track. That is when the worst came about. Up ahead was a fork in the tracks. Upon reaching this fork the train instantly fell onto to its side losing a considerable amount of momentum. Screams of agony could be heard clearly which Cornel and Riku assumed to be last of many people. Underneath the pair shards of glass flew along with the blood of those who stood on the side of the train. Both of them were stained with their blood from cuts the glass had created and the blood of those whose dying shrieks were being heard. Both of them made attempts to catch those who falling and managed to save many from being torn about by the cold ground. However, all they could do was watch in when people fell onto the fast moving earth.

Finally, the metal death trap came to halt. Riku could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body as his breathing staggered. The horrible sight he just witnessed had ended but he was not out the situation yet. The survivors were still trapped inside of train. Nearby a young girl at least five years old could be heard crying over the body of her dead mother. The sound of this sent resolve over his face. The resolve was to rescue and evacuate as many as possible. That is when hand came over his shoulder. Cornel stood there his eyes filled with a rage even greater than any Riku's eyes had ever seen before crossed with a violent determination. He began to speak in a surprisingly calm voice, "I don't mind fuckers attacking me; I've got most of it coming. But when innocent people get involved and die, those fuckers deserve to die. You with me or what?"

Riku nodded as he looked around the train. Sora could wait. Whatever happened to him would be his own fault. Riku came to this conclusion and pointed out the obvious. "We need to get all survivors out of here and get them help."

By the time Riku made this statement. Cornel had already picked up a pole that broken off of the train hand rail. That is when he disappeared from sight. The pole, his clothes, everything that was a part of his person vanished as if it had never existed. A second later a knock could be heard from what was now the top of the train. There was Cornel crouched on the glass with the pole in his right hand. He motioned had to tell them move out the way. Everyone that could stand helped those who could not get out of the way. When he was clear Cornel gripped the pole with hands and brought it down hard against the glass causing it to shatter into pieces.

Riku rubbed the back of his silver head and looked up at his new comrade. "Um y'know that wasn't necessary." Cornel cocked his head at this statement as a light flashed into Riku's hand. A red hilt with two wings: one of an angel and the other of a demon on either side of it. The demonic wing connected to a much larger one. Protruding out of the large wing was a small angel's wing spread open ready to fly. At the hilt's bottom was a silver chain with a black heart outline with red and a tri-point attached. To Cornel it looked like a cross between a demon sword and key. _A keyblade? _He mused in his head unaware of how accurate he was. All those within the car stood in awe at boy's weapon. Riku held it in his right hand and began to slash at what was once the floor of the train. Riku gave it a push and a large square shaped piece fell to the outside of the train creating a large opening.

Cornel jumped off of the train landing in front of the opening. He looked at Riku and said, "Why the fuck didn't you say you could do that earlier?"

Riku walked forward with a smile on his face, "Because you didn't ask." The pair walked over the next car. "I'll cut a hole into the train. You teleport or whatever you did inside and push it open." Cornel nodded and disappeared as Riku gripped his weapon and began cutting. The process was repeated with other cars and within half an hour all survivors were outside in the tunnels. During this time period rescue operations had reached to wreckage with food and medical supplies. It came quickly seeing as the train had only left the station two minutes prior to the explosion.

Another half an hour went by with doctors treating the wounded and those who needed to being transferred to a hospital. Everything seemed like it was over until a messenger from the surface came to the scene. He stepped out of the jeep the he rode in, came up to the tent where operations were being based, and spoke to the head of the said operations. "We need as many of you as possible to go to the Temelo station. Another bomb went off inside the tunnels and injured the squad who were looking for any more."

Cornel who had been sitting inside tent along with Riku stood up and spoke to the messenger, "It's impossible to send transmissions of any kind to surface these tunnels without access to its internal communication system, right." The messenger nodded, "You guys have already checked to see if someone hacked in, right." Another approving nod, "If that were the case you could've just accessed the bombs' detonation system and deactivated them. That can only mean one fuckin' thing. The bastard who set off the bombs is still down here."

Cornel motioned to Riku who followed him outside into the tunnels. Riku, however, was questioning how this conclusion was made "Couldn't the guy have just put sensors on the bomb or something."

"You really don't know shit do you?" While insulted by the way Cornel put it, Riku knew he was right. "These trains are powered by AMP technology. Something that powerful naturally would interfere with sensors."

"Don't have anything like this back on Destiny Islands." Riku remarked as the pair walked then thought went into his head. "Wait wouldn't that interfere with the communications between the bastard and the bomb."

It took Cornel a second to think of an explanation, "Fucker got a bomb under the tracks. Don't see why he couldn't get wire down there too."

Just before the pair left area of the rescue effort a man in a blue suit walked up behind, "Excuse me." Riku and Cornel turned around and noticed a little girl buried in the man's chest. They instantly recognized her as the girl whose mother was killed in the crash. "You're the ones who helped my daughter." The little girl looked out at the two with her eyes red and puffy from crying.

Riku walked over to girl having to bend down a little to be at eye level with her. He put smile on his and said "Me and Cornel are gonna get the guy and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else, I promise." The girl then held her hand out with her pinkie sticking out. Riku responded with his own pinkie locking the two of them together.

After second, Riku walked back to Cornel. Just before they left the little girl said, "Thank you Mr. Silver." Riku waved back still smiling as the pair went into the depths of the tunnels.

**Pieces**

Meanwhile, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were doing as Riku had said and found themselves something to do. Or rather, Selphie had decided to go shopping and the other two were forced to follow and carry the bags. They had finally left the store with bags full of clothes, accessories, and other things. "Okay boys, next store." Selphie pointed a finger towards a store named 'Lauren's Boutique' while saying this earning a groan from her companions.

"Can't we go to a store we like next?" Tidus said in protest.

"Besides, we can't be spendin' money like this, ya." Wakka added.

Selphie put her pout face on when a large jumbo screen attached to one of building turned to a news station, "We interrupt this broadcast for an important news bulletin." An anchor woman said. "Hello I'm Courtney Smalls. A mere hour ago the Daltus subway system suffered a terrorist attack. A bomb was somehow planted underneath the railway and detonated while the Maron Shanji train passed overhead. We now turn to Shannon McGriver who is live at scene."

A red headed woman wearing a blue suit appeared on the screen with the rescue operations in her background. "Thank you Courtney. I'm here live at the scene of a horrific sight. Doctors are and rescuers are tending to the wounded while, unfortunately, many have been forced to say goodbye to their loved ones." McGriver obviously was holding a tear back when she said that. "Currently a point of interest, however, is that by the time rescuers arrived most of the survivors had already escaped the train's wreckage. Eye witness accounts say that a green haired boy with the teleportation piece and a silver haired one with strange key shaped weapon cut and opened holes in the bottoms of the cars allowing people to escape. We tried to get an interview with these two apparent heroes, but it seems that they've actually gone deeper into the tunnels to find the person who set off the bombs. We will stay on the scene with around the clock updates on the situation. I'm Shannon McGriver, this is channels six news network."

Tidus looked at his friends, "Silver hair and key that had to have been Riku."

"But what about Sora?" Selphie asked.

"Sora can take care of himself, ya." Wakka stated matter-of-factly "Someone needs to take care of that terrorist bastard before kills more people. And I'm sure Riku and his new friend can do just that." The trio then walked away Selphie having been convinced not to go shopping but rather pastry searching.

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character data log**_

**New**

_Name: Tatsuo Gin "Rising Dragon"_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 73,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-servant boy_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Shizuko Kuroha "Devil's daughter"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 250,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-poet_

_Weapon: none_

* * *

_Name: Sora_

_Age: 16_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: unknown_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Riku_

_Age: 17_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light/darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: unknown_

_Weapon: Keyblade_

* * *

_Name: Tidus_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Selphie Tilmitt_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Wakka_

_Age: 17_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: blitzball_

* * *

_Name: Cornel Stelea "Blood Chain"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-teleportation_

_Imperial Bounty: 23,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix- commando _

_Weapon: ?_

_**I wanted to wrap this part up here but more Riku for you fan girls. And I'm trying make Cornel cuss in every line possible if you noticed that.**_

_**Please leave reviews and if you have any questions feel free to ask. **_


	3. Shizuko Kuroha

**Chapter three**

"**Shizuko Kuroha"**

Sora continued through the streets not slowing down even after hearing the broadcast about his friend. He was confident in Riku and was sure he could take care of himself. His goal had not changed in three and a half months that being to locate his friend Kairi. By now the streets were thinner than when he had begun two hours ago. People had arrived at their place of work or education leaving the city less active than it had been. Even so, there were still numerous people to watch out for. He had received enough complaints earlier for his own tastes. The problem Sora had was simple: there was still half a city to clear to reach his destination.

He was beginning to regret storming off earlier. Had he taken a taxi he probably would have arrived by now. This option was out since he did not have any money with him. "Why the hell did he put his place on the other side of the city anyway?" he asked out loud.

His friend in his head, Roxas, decided to answer this question. "_Maybe he doesn't like having visitors like you._" The arrogance in his answer was clear. "_Can't we just glide over roofs or something? That would be so much quicker._"

Sora face palmed himself for not remembering his own abilities. Upon his realization he stopped and looked at a nearby building. He planted his feet firmly on ground before taking a leap and landed onto its side. From there the boy took another leap onto a building right next to it. He jumped back and forth between the buildings until reaching the top of the first one. Sora walked across the roof until he was at the end facing his original direction. He stepped onto the side and took a powerful jump into the air. His arms were held outward full length on he flew in the sky gliding over people and roof tops.

The people on the ground paid little attention to Sora's aerial stunts. Adults simply wished they were as young and spritely as he was. The kids that saw him were saying that friends of theirs could easily beat him in a race. No matter what was said, Sora was still moving much faster than he was a moment ago and would definitely be at his destination sooner.

Roxas decided to speak up again. He saw a tiny shimmer of hope of talking sense into his spiky haired land lord, or whatever you call a person who you share a body with. "_What if Kairi seriously wanted to come to this world? And what if this Maria person really was just a mercenary on someone's pay role? Would you please answer that?_"

"_If she's on someone's pay role she probably tricked or forced Kairi to come with her._"Sora thought in retort.

"_And my first question? What if Kairi chose to leave?_" Roxas knew he hit string. Living inside Sora's head he knew every thought and idea that ran through it. He even knew were Sora kept the tiny sliver of doubt he had. "_I mean if she had, wouldn't she pretty upset with you?"_

"_That's not the point!_"_ S_ora began to scream in his head. "_How do we know she's safe? We can't be sure!_"

"_You can feel her can't you? No matter what happens or how far you are apart your hearts will always be connected._" Once again Sora pondered his own forgetfulness. "_Deep down, you know she's alright wherever she might be. So accept that she's not here right now and keep going forward. Fate brought us here for a reason. Now stop being a stubborn asshole and find it._"

Sora gritted his teeth together as a face of frustration began to re-emerge onto his face. His speed increased in the air as he flew over the city. Sora had made a resolution to find Kairi and would not rest until he succeeded. The thing that was getting to him was that he was the only one around him with such resolve. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had only joined his quest for the sake of sightseeing. Selphie in particular had shown little interest in locating Kairi being more interested in the boys, the sweets, and the clothes they had seen since their journey had began. Even Riku who Sora expected to be just if not more driven seemed to be giving half an effort.

Sora let his anger race through his mind as he continued on his path to the other side of the city of Daltus. He was unsure of everything right now. Everything he had once thought to be right was described by many as "self-righteous" or "black and white." He had never felt such a feeling before. Ever since the day his adventures began he always played the role of good guy. The place known as the Realm of Dawn was not good. It was not evil. It was not light. It was not dark. It was not white. It was not black. Rather, it was gray. A perfectly balanced gray caught in between the two extremes. This world was cruel and unforgiving yet at the same kind and merciful. If one sought his dreams or ambitions no matter what they were strength was needed be it physical, mental, or spiritual. If they lacked this strength they would be swallowed whole, crushed under the impossible weight.

This concept rushed through Sora's mind as he flew. However, one question continued to stay in its place at the front of the boy's thoughts: where and how was Kairi?

**Pieces**

Shizuko sat gazing out of the window. She was now wearing the red uniform jacket like her classmates after being harped on by Mr. Zed along with other students about her attire. Her head was filled with heavy metal music from her mp3 her jet black hair hiding the ear buds from the view of her teacher. The class was being lectured on matrixes going on about how to solve three variable equations with them. Shizuko had already learned how to do this by reading ahead in the book and did not feel like listening to something she already knew.

"_Why do I even come to school? They know I hate it here and that I taught myself everything there gonna teach so why not graduate me and be done with._" Shizuko ceased to ask herself these questions when the feeling of glares reached her senses. She looked up to see all of the other students and her teacher staring at her. The teacher, a short brunette woman, had her right hand on the board next to an equation. Shizuko assumed she had asked her to solve the problem while she had been lost in her thoughts. After examining the problem for a few seconds Shizuko figured out the answer "X equals sixteen, y equals four, and z equals nine."

The teacher spoke some words which were inaudible to Shizuko through her music, but she assumed them to be about how she was correct. This was almost every class for her. The school as well as many colleges had acknowledged Shizuko as a genius. Though she had just entered ninth grade she was taking two tenth level classes and was at the top of both of them. The entirety of her school career had been like this: perfect scores on tests and almost anything else she got grades for.

Under these circumstances people would have simply let a student skip grades; however, Shizuko's non-academic record was more than flawed. She was known to get into fights against other students. More than often she would show up at school an hour late or simply skip class altogether. This did not affect her grades by a noticeable margin seeing as most homework was computerized for student access.

All of Shizuko's teachers saw the girl with jet black hair as an enigma who refused to open up to anyone. Many of them had tried to get her to open up, however, only succeeded in angering her. She found people digging into her personal life to be quite annoying and generally brushed them off as nuisances. Most teachers saw her as a lost cause and waste of incredible talent but there were a few like Mr. Zed who would not let her go. Shizuko found them to be the most annoying.

Shizuko saw everyone begin to stand up and realized the bell to signal the end of the period had rang. She picked up her bag never having taken anything out of it and walked out the door. One more period and she had lunch, the only time during school she had completely to herself.

**Pieces**

On the floor above, Tatsuo was sighing as he exited his classroom. Right next to him was a light brown skin boy who stood slightly shorter than him. Like everyone else he wore the red school uniform. His black hair was cut short and he was wearing glasses. "Man that test was impossible, huh."

"Tell me about it, Josh." Tatsuo took another deep sigh, "I barely finished. Thank God we've got next period off."

The mentally exhausted pair was walking down the halls toward a stair case when Josh pulled out his phone and hit a few buttons. For a moment his eyes locked onto it as he read an article he pulled up on the internet. He sneered before looking back up at Tatsuo, "Well looks like Cornel is up to something big." Josh handed his phone over to allow Tatsuo to read the article himself. "You and Shizuko gonna get in on the action or let fang boy take all the glory."

The boys stopped at the staircase allowing those who were rushing to class to get through. At that moment Tatsuo pulled out his phone. Josh could hear the vibrating himself and looked at Tatsuo's left hand moving towards his ear. "Yes, father." Tatsuo had his nervous tone in saying this. "Yeah, I just found out." A couple seconds passed. Josh could barely hear a stern voice through the stomping of everyone's feet. "Understood, I'll grab Shizuko and get down there as quick as possible." Tatsuo put his phone back into his pocket and looked at Josh. He scratched the back of his head and smiled, "Looks like I'm getting out for the rest of the day."

"Lucky bastard." Tatsuo and Josh walked down the stairs, "You should be the next head of your family. You do way more than that Atsushi guy."

"It's not an absolute decision you know. Father can still make me the next head if he wants to. But I don't really want it. I mean I have Black Phoenix to keep myself..." Tatsuo stopped talking when he saw a crowd up ahead. It did not take him long to figure out the situation and decided he had better stop it before someone got hurt.

Josh and he managed to break through the crowd to see Shizuko and a boy who was at least a foot taller and more muscular than Tatsuo. The boy held both arms out in front of him as his skin began to ripple. Small spikes began to form all over the boy protruding from his body. Finally, the boy was covered with stone spikes while his uniform remained in perfect condition.

Shizuko remained unfazed by the transformation and stood completely still. The large boy charge with his fist ready but, Shizuko did not budge. A direct hit was landed onto to Shizuko's face; however, instead of her shrieks the sound of a large bell was heard. The spikes on the boy's hand dropped onto the floor as he pulled back and yelled in pain. He gripped his bleeding hand and had a look of great anger filled his eyes. When the boy looked back up he saw a flash of silver then black. Now on ground the boy laid unconscious as the spikes retracted into his body. Above him Shizuko stood with a completely bored look on her face. Her right hand was silver and balled into a tight fist.

The crowd around them gave hateful glares to Shizuko. The boy she had just KO'd was the star of their blitzball team. Despite his trouble making tendencies he was liked by the male student body and adored by the females. Shizuko considered people like him annoying reveling in their own pride and popularity. She walked towards then past Tatsuo who was nervously scratching the back of his head. The students parted clearing the path for. Even though they hated her, they knew it was pointless to fight her themselves. After following her for a moment Tatsuo spoke up. "Father called me, Sis. There's a situation in the subway tunnels he wants us help Cornel with."

Shizuko simply looked at him and coldly said, "Cornel is down there isn't he. Something like this shouldn't even be a challenge. But I don't feel like hanging around with morons so I'll come. Besides, there's something else I want I want to look into."

Josh broke off from them when they reached the front door. He had to study for another test in the afternoon. Tatsuo and Shizuko walked towards the school entrance. Waiting there was a black car with shaded windows which on closer inspection was seen to be armored. Leaning on the driver's side was a man wearing a suit and sunglasses. When the pair arrived the man bowed respectfully and opened the back seat door. Shizuko and Tatsuo stepped in as they went to prepare for whatever lied ahead.

**Pieces**

Riku and Cornel continued their trek in the tunnels. For the past two hours there had been nothing. No enemies, no explosions just nothing. Riku could not help but to let out a yawn having grown bored the monotonous pace. As he yawned he realized Cornel had suddenly come to a stop. He looked back and saw Cornel scanning the grey tunnel walls looking for something. Cornel walked over and got closer look. He began his hand running across the wall. A click was heard a second before the ground to slightly rumble. Next to Cornel the wall indented and moved to the left revealing a second tunnel.

The new tunnel was not as modern looking as the other. Beyond wires connecting lights there were was nothing on the walls. It was obvious to Riku that the tunnels were manmade and dug out only recently. Not so much by the tunnel itself but by the fact that a large machine was sitting just a few meters away from the entrance. Said machine was on six wheels on its underside with its cockpit on top.

Cornel wasted no time grabbing Riku by the shoulder and teleporting into the machine. What Riku had expected was a flash of light then appearing in the cockpit. Instead what he got was the entire world around him becoming a blur and this weird feeling of having had something pass clear through his body.

The green haired teleporter pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. Out of them he picked one that was painted black. Cornel stuck the key in an ignition slot and turned it. The machine came to life with its engine starting and its interior lighting up with all sorts of colors. Cornel pressed a single button and on command the cockpit lifted itself a foot into the air, turned a full one-eighty, and set itself back down.

The sudden whirl topped with his first time experience with teleportation was doing no good for Riku as he wondered whether or not his stomach had made the trip in one piece. Cornel seemed completely unconcerned for his passenger's condition taking a tight grip on the machine's steering wheel.

The machine was now propelling itself at thirty miles per hour and for about five minutes they sat in silence with the exception of the machine's noise. Finally Riku decided to break the silence. "So, um, exactly why is this down here?"

"Is that any of your damn business?"

"You're the one who asked me to come. I think I have a right to know."

"You have a right to give input into a fuckin' plan. Black Phoenix has its life you have yours. Besides if you wanna ask a question shouldn't be about finding Maria."

"You have a point. So where's Maria."

"Hell if I know.

Riku sighed. It was clear that Cornel was no wellspring of information. He was an underground lake with no way to the surface. Or if there was one Riku had no way of finding it.

"Okay then." Riku found something that might get him a little water. "What happens when we're through here? You have to answer that."

Cornel sneered. "One out of three things is gonna happen. One, they're just some punk ass terrorist, we get hero treatment and you get a warm fuzzy feeling. Two, they're people who have a grudge against me, we get the heat for all the deaths, but you still get the fuzzy feeling for avenging the little girl's mom. Three…" Cornel crude uncaring face took a turn for the worst. A sinister smile appeared revealing his white teeth. His red eyes screamed with rage and blood thirst. Riku kept his aquamarine eyes on Cornel's teeth though. There was no arguing that among them were a set of fangs. "…, it doesn't mean shit who we're up against cause we'll be dead."

Riku could not help but to be unnerved by these words. Particularly do to face that Cornel was able to make while saying them. He tried to keep as straight a face as possible because deep down he knew what had just been said was the perfect answer to his question.

**Pieces**

All while this was happening, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had returned to aerodrome. Not so much to Riku's instructions as to put Selphie's bags in their airship. They were now standing outside the hanger they were renting out waiting for their phone calls. Truthfully, Selphie was more concerned about her call from Tatsuo than Riku. Tidus and Wakka were conversing about a blitzball match they had seen on one of the large screens of Daltus's downtown area. The two of them were excitedly talking about the moves and plays they had seen.

Finally Selphie's phone began to ring. Before the boys could even look up, the phone was at her ear. "Hi, Tatsuo. I'm ready to go whenever you are." Selphie's smile melted away. "What do ya mean you might not be able to do today?" A moment passed. "Riku and your friend can take care of themselves." This was true. "Who cares what your father says. You're a teenager. Be rebellious. My parents don't even know where I am right now." Neither did Tidus or Wakka's. "The aerodrome, rental hanger eight." The "8" was painted on the side of the building. "Really! Thanks, that's so much better than an airship or some cheap motel." Selphie put her phone away and smile "Tatsuo said we could stay at his house. He's even having someone pick us up."

Tidus and Wakka looked at each other with some concern. "Um, Selphie aren't you a little too trusting? We just met this guy today, ya." Wakka said now standing in front of Selphie.

"Besides, if you didn't notice Sora's attacking one his friends right now." Tidus added. "What will happen if something goes wrong?"

As if ready on queue a black car with shaded windows drove up and stopped right next to them. Out of it came a man in a suit and sunglasses. Said man in suit walked up to the brunette and asked "I take it your Selphie?" She nodded. "Tatsuo has requested you be brought to the estate as his guest along with your friends." The man looked around. "I was told there were five of you."

Selphie let out a sigh, "The other two won't be joining us for a while."

Before her friends could raise words in protest, Selphie was already in the car taking in its luxury. Only someone who came from money could afford something like this. There was a high definition television hanging from the roof and a cooler with drinks built into the floor. The seats were incredibly comfortable, covered with a material Selphie had probably never heard of.

Tidus and Wakka climbed in seconds later and made the same face as Selphie: stunned. Never had they seen such a luxurious piece of machinery from the inside.

The three of them were all captivated by the car's awesomeness when the sound of an engine was heard. Something then clicked in the boys' heads. They were supposed to be getting Selphie out of the now moving vehicle.

**Pieces**

Sora was back on his feet having arrived at his destination. In front of him was a large garage door with a large painting on it. This painting depicted a large bird that appeared to be made of black flames. Its wings were spread full length and its head faced frontward slightly lowered. Set in its head were eerie white slanted eyes. It talons and tail also appeared to be made of black flames. Underneath the flaming image the words "Black Phoenix" were written in thin, fire red letters outlined by yellow.

The building itself was a large airship hanger that towered above anything else in the vicinity. Not to say that the vicinity was that big of a deal. It was run down with very few decent looking building. Small shops could be sign around the area with bars on the windows. Almost everyone there looked shady and all of them gave Sora strange looks. His presence was not normal. Sora had asked around about Felix but the best response he got was a set of directions and a warning. That warning was not to act recklessly.

After a moment's hesitation Sora finally raised his arm to bang against garage with all his might but Roxas was there to give some last minute input. "_Last chance to turn back._"

"Well I'm not taking it," Sora said out loud, "Why do you care anyway?"

"_My ass is on the line too you know._"

"Yeah well why you try giving advice that'll help find Kairi!" Sora shouted this in the air letting his question be heard by anyone close by. Unfortunately for him one person was close by.

"You know most people talk to themselves when nobody can hear." Sora recognized this icy voice from a few hours ago and turned around to its source. There stood Shizuko having shed her school uniform for different attire. Her upper body was cover by a black jacket with silver buttons. The lower part of the jacket's sleeves was made of layers of puffy frills that swayed with the wind. She had a black skirt on. The majority of her legs were covered by thigh high socks.

Shizuko's dark blue eyes contrasted Sora's light blue ones staring down into him. After a moments' silence she spoke, "Tell me something. Is this girl truly worth risking your life over?"

"_And mine?_"__Roxas whispered in Sora's head.

"Yes, she is." Sora stated.

"Then you should wait for Felix to come home." Shizuko said with no emotion in her voice. "Felix and Maria keep in touch but they don't keep tabs on each other. And we sure as hell don't. Felix can give a phone number but he probably has no clue where she is right now."

"I've been looking through this world for three and half months!" Sora shouted. "How much longer do I have to wait?" Sora put both hands over to his right and a flash of light appeared. In his hands now was large weapon bearing resemblance to an old fashioned key. Shizuko seemed somewhat taken by this new development. "Now, is there any way we can make this go faster."

A small smile appeared on Shizuko's half visible face. "Do you honestly think you can beat me with _that_?" She pointed at Sora's keyblade.

"You wanna see."

Shizuko held her left hand out with her hand slightly cupped and her palm facing outward. Her right hand back into a fist. She also brought her right leg back some. "Show me."

With this final provocation Sora charged head first at Shizuko clearly with no intent of showing any mercy. Sora brought his keyblade the _Kingdom Key_ in for slash to Shizuko's left side but was intercepted by her arm. Instead of a blood curtailing scream of agony, the sound of metal clashed rang through Sora's ears. Looking down for a second Sora saw that Shizuko's forearm had become steel.

"A little advice…" Shizuko said in an icy tone "Getting close to me is dangerous." Shizuko swung her arm pushing Sora off. Sora jumped back a few feet creating some distance between the two of them. Shizuko had full intention to close that distance running at him with her now metalized right hand in a fist. The fist connected with Sora's keyblade ringing out as it did.

"_Firaga!_" At their caster's command four large fire balls immediately started circling around him forcing Shizuko to jump back. "It's dangerous to get close to me too." Immediately after saying that, Sora pointed the bit of his sword at Shizuko. "_Blizzaga!_"

A block of ice materialized and flew at Shizuko who remained perfectly calm. With her left arm extended Shizuko prepared her defense. "_Doppelganger!_"From Sora's point of view it seemed like the ice had simply fallen apart, however, the truth was quickly revealed. Shizuko's left forearm had been replaced by a metal pole pointed at the end. As quickly as it had appeared the pole morphed back into Shizuko's arm. Sora found himself at a loss for words. Shizuko smiled and asked "You didn't think I could just turn my arms to steel did you." That was pretty much exactly what Sora thought. "If you think your little magic tricks are enough then think again. My Piece, Doppelganger, always me to alter me entire body's molecular structure at will. A hunk of ice like that can easily be dealt with."

"Then try breaking this. _Thundaga!_" A massive lightning bolt then dropped down onto Shizuko, temporarily blinding Sora in the process.

When his vision was return Sora found Shizuko completely unharmed, standing as though she had not even felt the attack. "You know…" she began "Rubber doesn't conduct electricity." That being said Shizuko reeled her arm back and threw a stretching hand at Sora. Before reaching its target the fingers on Shizuko's hand turned into metal talons. Her now clawed hand flew at Sora, but before it was able to make contact and rip into Sora, he sidestepped out of their path. The arm continued to fly before reaching its limit and beginning to retract. Sora contemplated attacking her seemingly defenseless arm but quickly realized she would just turn into steel again. What Sora did not realized that on the return trip Shizuko turned her arm into a sickle blade that was now flying straight towards him.

"_Jump!_" Doing as Roxas commanded Sora narrowly evaded getting cut in half as the blade passed beneath him. "_What would you do without me?_" Roxas said arrogantly. Shizuko's arm returned to her body creating a loud snapping sound in doing so.

Sora was given no time to breath as his opponent came at him head long with her bladed forearm prepared for an attack. Sora saw _this _attack and prepared to block accordingly. However, a few feet before reaching her target, Shizuko jumped into the air altering her arm into a double edged blade. The blade was brought down towards Sora with the full intent to impale him, but Sora had a plan-b. Sora raised his Keyblade as he said "_Reflectga!_" A transparent honeycomb shaped barrier appeared around Sora that when Shizuko made contact sent her flying in the opposite direction. Sora's counterattack was not finished. He gripped his blade and gave a good toss while shouting "_Strike Raid!_" While flying at Shizuko, the Kingdom Key ignited bathing itself in bright flames.

"Damn, I can't dodge it like this." Shizuko muttered to herself, "But I can block it." Both of her arms came together and transformed into one large steel shield. When the keyblade hit, a fiery blast was created obscuring the girl from sight. When the smoke cleared, Shizuko mostly shielded from the attack was descending back to the ground fully aware that Sora was headed straight for her landing site. Shizuko's arms returned back to normal, the frills on her jacket were slightly singed, while the calve of her left leg became a blade.

Sora quickly jumped backwards to avoid her leg which became jammed into the ground. Sora thought he had found an opening and went in to take it bringing his keyblade high into the air. However, Shizuko turned the shin of her free leg into a blade and did an upward slash to block Sora's attack and free her other leg. The force from her kicking-slash sent Shizuko into the air, and after landing about ten feet back from Sora, Shizuko resumed her original fighting stance.

Both sides paused for a moment neither taking their eyes off each other. Finally Shizuko sighed, took a breath, and straightened herself up. She then began to speak in her icy monotone. "This fight is pointless and it would seem we're evenly matched."

"If I recall I got one hit in and you got none. Guess that means I'm winning." Sora retorted.

"Really?" Shizuko pointed at Sora where a cut had been made on his left pectoral. "The adrenaline is numbing the pain but that won't last too long. Besides, only my jacket was actually damaged. I'm perfectly fine. So who's really winning?"

Sora had been completely oblivious of the cut a moment ago. It was shallow but blood still stained his clothing. "_Well, you lost that round._" Roxas happily pointed out. "_Ok look, this could seriously be our last chance to smooth this over. Let's wait till this Crow guy gets back and then we can find Maria who hopefully can lead us to Kairi. Best case scenario._"

"_Worst case scenario?_"

"_Maria doesn't know where Kairi is, and we just wasted our time and energy. Either that or you do something stupid._"

Sora cringed up his face and dismissed his keyblade. Finally he accepted his best chance was to make nice and get on these people's good side if he wanted to locate Kairi. Something was bothering Sora though. This girl was obviously younger than him, yet she managed to go toe-to-toe with him with no sign of slowly down at all. In fact she seemed rather relaxed and calm throughout their short bout as though she felt no danger whatsoever. Was she mocking Sora or was she simply unafraid of death?

"Fine, I'll play. But at the first sign of funny business…"

Sora was about add some words of intimidation but was stopped by Shizuko's raised hand. "Don't worry." Her voice still did not show any emotion. "Not only am I a member of Black Phoenix, but I also serve as a mediator for a the group and a yakuza family. It's my job to make sure no funny business happens."

Shizuko walked over next to the garage where a key pad was mounted onto the wall. After she punched a few buttons the door began rise. Behind it was a large array of vehicles ranging from motorcycles to ATVs all of which had Black Phoenix's insignia on it somewhere. Among the machines were tools lying on the floor apparently intended for maintenance work. Sora stopped and looked around taking in the mess of machinery.

"Are you coming in or not?" Shizuko said turning around to see him in a trance.

Sora was about answer but stinging from his chest shut him up. Looking down he remembered the cut Shizuko had made. Sora held his right hand over the cut and said "_Cure."_ A green light was emitted from his hand along with vine like tendrils. Once the light faded his cut was gone, but the tear in his shirt was still there. "Okay, so what's all in here anyway?"

"Machines. What else would be in here?" This was a new voice to Sora. It was that of a female and based from its oriental accent English was obviously not its native tongue. Sora looked around for its source and found it coming out from behind a machine. Her light blue hair was bound in a ponytail. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress with golden design on the front. The dress was buttoned down on the left side going down to waist. It was split open on the sides at the thigh to provide mobility. This opening exposed the red loose fitting pants covering her legs. On her feet was a pair of black slip on shoes.

"Are you the one who was making all that noise outside? And if you were, why you let him in here, Shizuko." The girl inquired.

Shizuko sent her an empty look, "While you're asking questions, why are you here instead of helping Cornel in tunnels, Xia?"

Xia now walked to where Sora and Shizuko were standing completely ignoring the question. She seemed to be more interested in Sora and kept her amber eyes locked onto him. She finally walked up to him grabbing him by the shoulder. Their lips were mere inches away kissing. "You know, you actually look pretty cute." Xia said with a glint in her eyes. "But you have no money."

"Wait!" Sora stammered. "How'd you know that?"

"_She read '_How to Rob a Person Blind.'" Roxas said.

Xia backed up a feet and raised her hands. In the left was Sora's crown chain necklace, and the right held all types of other trinkets including a variety of key chains and an empty orange pouch that served as Sora's wallet, when he had money. "Ha, that was too easy." She mocked, "So, why is idiot here?"

"You have yet to explain _you're_ here." Shizuko retorted.

"I can't find Sander. That's why." Xia answered while tossing Sora's things back to him. She jumped at least fifteen feet into the air and, at the peak of her jump she threw down a small silver hoop. This hoop expanded in diameter reaching ten feet across when Xia landed on top of it balancing herself on one foot. "You know damn well I can't drive this thing." At her new height she was a few feet under a drill type vehicle similar to the one in the tunnel which she was pointing up at. "Besides, why bother Cornel will kill all of them before we get there."

"So you're a thief and circus performer." Sora commented.

"You say something, idiot boy? If you didn't notice I still have your cell phone." Xia said brandishing a blue phone.

"Hey give that back!" Sora shouted.

"Why should I? It not my fault you can't control your hormones." Xia retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Girl: me" she said pointing to herself "Gets close, you get so turned on you don't realize you're being robbed."

Sora's face turned red. "I control my hormones just fine. I've been around girls way prettier than you."

"They must see how small the bulge in your pants is and run away."

"Kairi would never run away from me."

"_Yeah, she would._" Roxas corrected.

"And I'm not small!" Sora's face lit up even brighter in an attempt to defend his manhood.

"_Steer away from this topic._"

"Of course she doesn't. Only a sick monkey is attracted to his sister." Xia continued with her onslaught of insults.

"And I'm sure you would know a few."

Xia held her tongue for a moment. "Yeah, I chop their balls off like I'm about to do to you." Xia finally jumped off the hoop and landed next it. She gripped it and it subsequently contracted to a size small enough to fit on her wrist. "You were right when you said I was a circus performer, but don't think we were ordinary. We robbed our audiences of everything. Money, jewelry, and whatever other valuables they had. And the ones who found out…" Xia held up her right hand. Suddenly it was enveloped in an aura of varying red swirls. There were particularly dark spots in this aura which darted back and forth. "… let's just say these hands aren't for massages."

"_Sora if you want to have chance of finding Kairi apologies. Apologies now._" Roxas warned.

"Is that so?" Sora summoned the Kingdom Key back to his hands. "Then show me what they are for."

They glared at each for moment neither seemingly ready to make the first move. "_Do want to die!_" Roxas asked from within Sora's mind.

"_I can take her._" Sora retorted.

"_Her, maybe. But her _and _Shizuko. Not to mention this Sander guy. Riku and the others aren't here to back you up this time, remember?_"

"_Please, it's just me and her in here. We can do whatever we want in here._"

"_First of all thanks to the previous conversation what you just said can be taken many ways. Second, you don't think they'd notice the noise?_"

"_She won't last long enough for there to be any noise."_ Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly and prepared for his attack. Xia raised her right hand above her head with her palm facing upward and the hand slightly cupped. Her left hand was extended out and downward. The left leg was raised up to her right knee.

Both parties held their stances for a moment. Sora was antsy wondering if he should make the first. Last time he did which was hardly a moment ago and still fresh in his mind he risked being cut in half. As it stood now he had no idea what Xia was capable of or her Piece did. He mentally weighed his options. Charging in risked the wrath of whatever abilities his opponent possessed. Not to mention if Sora was wrong he would have to hear Roxas's insults. However, waiting let in the chance for a surprise attack. Not to mention this allowed time for Shizuko to return with Sander. Having to go three-on-one would be the worst possible scenario for Sora.

Finally he made his mind. Sora would attack first. He tightened his muscles even further determining to strike from her right. Finally he prepared his legs to lunge at Xia when the great concentration he achieved was completely ruined.

"Found him." Shizuko's cold voice cut through the tension like warm butter. She came out from behind the machine Xia did earlier where apparently a door was. Behind her was tall boy with shoulder length brown hair wearing a yellow shirt and cargo pants. This was Sander. "He was asleep on the couch."

"Well excuse me for wanting to rest up before we go hunting terrorists." He said with a yawn. Sander then looked at Sora then cocked his head with his hand on his chin. "Who's this guy?" Sander asked.

Shizuko turned around and looked at Sander. "Honestly, I don't really know who this guy is." She said looking at Sora. "More importantly you should've been in the tunnels by now."

"Okay, okay sheesh." Sander grumbled and walked a to a control panel on the wall. "This going to take a couple of minutes."

Sander began playing with the panel as Xia and Sora ceased their stare down. Shizuko looked at the pair and only shook her head. "Go ahead if want to kill each other. I really only want the drill." She casually leaned against the machine and waved her hand for them to continue.

"I'm fine if tiny wants to try." Xia taunted.

"That's it!" Sora charged at Xia having had it with her taunting. Within a split second he cleared the spaced between himself and Xia with his Keyblade ready for an arch from the right. While Sora brought his Keyblade down for the attacking, Xia jumped into the air directly above Sora in an almost dance like leap. By the time Sora realized his blunder his head was being used as a spring board which sent him into the concrete floor head first.

"_Nice work idiot! I can't believe you let her get a hit in that easily._" Sora listened to the scolding with remorse. His head was hurting enough without getting yelled at from the inside. He staggered to his feet holding his hand up to his forehead as he did so. Beneath his glove was a fresh stream of blood pouring down onto his face.

Xia had resumed her original fighting pose. "Come on. If this the best you can do this won't be much fun." Sora answered this with a Blizzaga spell. When the ice reached her, Xia calmly ducked backwards letting the ice fly above her. Returning to her feet, Xia was faced again with Sora's Keyblade which she dodged with grace. Sora continued to slash at Xia but kept cutting nothing but air. The whole while, Xia had yet to launch another attack. Despite her crude personality, Xia's fighting style was like an eloquent dance evading all of Sora attacks with composed beauty.

Attempting to deliver a heavy blow, Sora spun around full speed to bring the Keyblade with as much force as possible. Xia as with all the other attacks avoided the slashed with ease, however, instead of backing off like she had done before, Xia took advantage of the huge opening in Sora's defense. Her leg now covered in the red energy slammed into Sora's right side drawing blood as it did so. Sora's clothes seemed to be ripped apart when Xia made contact.

Though the force of the blow sent him back a few feet, it didn't have nearly as much affect as the energy something Sora realized as he touched his side. It felt as though hundreds of tiny knives had brushed against his skin leaving an individual cuts as they did so. Wincing in pain got up to his feet ready for another attack.

"_Just stop while you're ahead._" Roxas requested. "_And by ahead I mean not lying in a pool of your own blood._"

"_Why do you keep doubting me?_" Sora asked.

"_Because you haven't been yourself lately._"

"_I'm just fine, thank you._"

"_Sora, I'm part of you. You can lie to anyone else, but you can't lie to me._"

"_I can ignore you._"

With that thought Sora took another lunge at Xia who began to sigh. "What's the fun if he just keeps charging like a mindless fool?" Well before Sora could make contact, Xia jumped over his head and landed in front of the array of vehicles. Without a moment's hesitation she stepped into them.

Sora wasted no time following her. At first glance Xia appeared to have hidden her presence. Stepping in deeper Sora looked and saw Xia with her back turned to look a machine. Finally seeing an opening, the Keyblade Master made another attack at Xia.

Once again he was being baited. Just before he swung his keyblade, Xia jumped out of Sora's way sending him flying into a now opened hatch. The inside made clear that it was a small space pod with rather comfortable seating. Comfortable at least until Sora found himself bound inside by straps. The metal hatch closed itself. Cramped in the space and bound to a chair, Sora could not even use his keyblade to escape.

After a moment of silence Sora was sure he heard jet engines roar. Within seconds he was off the ground rising in Mongram's atmosphere. Finally the pod reached space.

The straps that bound Sora released themselves returning his mobility. The whole time during launch Sora kept a grip on his Keyblade which he now pointed at the hatch.

"_What the hell are you doing?_" Roxas asked.

"Getting us out of here. What does it look like?"

"_It looks like your being an idiot. Keyblade Master or not you can't breathe in space._" Sora quickly conceded seeing as it was impossible to argue this fact. However, a new idea popped into Sora's head. "_Sora, you can barely access your e-mails. There's no way you can reprogram a space pod._" At this Sora realized there nothing he could do but hope that this pod would be a one way trip to Kairi. "_Which it probably isn't._"

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Sanderson Daniel _

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 20,000,000 munny _

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-business handler_

_Weapon: ?_

_Name: Xia Qin "Red Rain Thief" _

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-Thorn Wave_

_Imperial Bounty: 120,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-thief_

_Weapon: Balance Rings_

**Update**

_Name: Tatsuo Gin "Rising Dragon"_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: Piece- "Static Burst"_

_Imperial Bounty: 73,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-yakuza_

_Weapon: zatoichi _

_Name: Shizuko Kuroha "Devil's daughter"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece- "Doppelganger" _

_Imperial Bounty: 250,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-poet/mediator_

_Weapon: none_

_Name: Sora_

_Age: 16_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: unknown_

_Weapon: Keyblade_


	4. Tatsuo Gin

_**Yay, got it out in less than a month, and I finshed the story arc, something I planned to do in one chapter. A well.**_

_**Any Enjoy!**_

* * *

"**Tatsuo Gin"**

Xia found herself rolling on the floor with laughter. Looking up through the opened hatch, she could see Black Phoenix's "Get the hell out pod" flying into space with Sora in it. This provided her with more than enough satisfaction to make the rest of the day impossible to ruin for her. "What an idiot!" she laughed to herself taking full amusement in her accomplishment.

Having finally composed herself, Xia walked out of the mess of vehicles and back over the spot Shizuko was standing. While Xia had her fun, Sander had lowered the drill and was now opening its hatch to the cockpit. "Come on, Xia. Did you have use one of the 'Get the hell out pods'? Those are expensive." Sander scolded. Being in charge of Black Phoenix's business affairs, he had make sure they didn't blow through money.

Truthfully Black Phoenix's main source of income was delivery. What delivered depended on who wanted it delivered. Some people wanted money to appear where it shouldn't have. Whereas others wanted things like guns and men transported to places.

This business never went over well with the Faltian Empire. This was mostly because more than often they either delivered goods that were stolen from Faltia or delivered them to more dangerous corpse climber groups or rebels against the empire. Felix in particular found this job highly amusing and enjoyed the thrill of being chased by entire armies at times. In particular he enjoyed the fights that he got into saying there was nothing more interesting to him than a strong opponent.

The other members of Black Phoenix had their own reasons for staying around. Xia, for example, being a professional thief, needed the protection of strong fighters like Felix in case something ever went wrong. Duffie like Xia needed protection but also knew that material for his machines ran through Felix's hands.

At the moment Felix and four others were on one these jobs. Apparently someone wanted a girl broken out her cell, taken out of the empire's custody, and delivered to a small planet in a far off galaxy. A simple task and nothing they had not done before.

The five left behind kept things running smoothly at their base of operations in Daltus. The Mongram government usually ignored their actions in exchange for keeping anyone who should not be there out. Because of this under the table deal the name "Crow" was well known throughout Mongram as one of the most dangerous people around. Little did they know he was just a fourteen-year-old boy who liked a good fight.

All of that aside, right now Black Phoenix was addressing a situation that could cause problems for their whole operation. A terrorist had gotten into Daltus. They were sure they were not responsible for letting him in considering they made sure to do a check of everything and everyone they brought in. The only person they ever gave weapons to in Daltus was the Gin Group yakuza family. The only explanation otherwise would be that someone from outside was responsible. Without Black Phoenix's help there were very few people who could enter into Mongram's solar system without going through full checks.

Seeing as someone had to have helped them the only conclusion that could be drawn is that an enemy of theirs let them into the city. Either that or some political radical from within Daltus attacked. To make matters worse innocent people were involved which makes every party look bad. No matter what the case it would have some ill effect on the Black Phoenix's place of business and they wanted it stopped.

**Pieces**

Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie found themselves face to face with a man who commanded respect. A man whose influence affected all of Daltus. He sat on the floor across from the three with a cup tea being brought to him. Calmly taking a sip he motioned for them to drink themselves. They complied, Selphie less wearily than the others. The man they were facing was the leader of the Gin group, Akira Gin.

Finally he spoke, "So, Tatsuo is to give the three of tour of Daltus right." Selphie nodded happily. Unlike her two companions, she did not see the danger of this situation. "Unfortunately, my son has had something come up and not be able to do this today. However, he always keeps to his word and should be available tomorrow since it is Saturday. Seeing as he invited you here as his guests I will provide you with rooms and food as long he wishes." He said with a smile but Selphie had something to ask.

"Say is there anything we can do to help with these terrorists?" She said courteously.

Akira touched his hand to his chin and said, "The only thing I can think of is to go down there and to help the fight against them."

"Then that's what we'll do."

The boys gave her a questioning look. Truthfully they were wondering why they were still in the Gin estate at all. Selphie had managed to convince them in the car the ride there they should at least see the place before they made a decision. Within five seconds of exiting the luxury vehicle that brought them there, which was difficult to do, Tidus and Wakka were convinced on leaving. The first person they saw was a man with a Japanese sword at his hip missing the first joint of his right pinkie. They received a few weary looks but, in general were ignored. Upon entering the actual building they were required to remove their shoes and undergo a full body check. In this check they removed and handed over the weapons they carried. Tidus had a blue crystal sword that hooked at the end called Brotherhood. Wakka used his blitzball and Selphie a nun chuck like weapon with two black square poles connected by the material covering the poles. It was called a nunchuka.

After a moment of silence a smile appeared on Akira's face. "Well I guess the matter settled. Unless of course you two have something to say."

Before Tidus or Wakka could move his mouth to speak Selphie had already gotten up, walked over to the sliding door, pushed it open and stepped outside. She looked out at the estate's traditional landscape particularly the koi pond. Tidus walked out after her and sighed, "No changing your mind, huh."

Selphie shook her head in agreement, "Normally I'd let Riku do whatever. But these guys hurt innocent people. I wanna do anything I can to stop jackasses like them. Don't you?" She turned to Tidus and smiled.

"Course we do, ya." Wakka came out at last. "We'll make 'em wish they never came to town."

"Well then, I suppose you three can go with Tatsuo instead of the men I originally assigned." Akira finally stepped outside gazing at his koi pond.

All three turned around and looked up at Akira Gin except for Wakka who stood at eye level with him. "Wait, you mean he's still here?" Tidus asked.

"Yes, we had to wait until Shizuko made the necessary preparations for her plan but he should be ready leave. You'll have to hurry if you want to catch him."And hurry they did or rather Selphie grabbed Tidus and Wakka by the arms and made them hurry as much as she did. Akira simply gave a small smile at this. "Teenagers…" he said shaking his head.

Selphie's feet clattered against the wooden floors of the house searching for Tatsuo. She had let go of Tidus and Wakka who were following her from a few feet behind. Right before rounding a corner all three of them came to a stop when a burst of light flashed brightly in front of them. The light was followed by loud crackling thunder. When their eyes came back into focus, they saw an orange haired man in a suit covered with burns. The sun glasses he was wearing were broken to pieces. In his right hand was an unsheathed katana.

"You little bastard!" He shouted supporting himself on his sword. "I'm sick of taking orders from some brat! I don't care if your oyabun's son! I worked my ass off for this group! I worked my ass for Gin-oyabun! I've spent ten years rising through the ranks to get this far! I'm not about take shit some punk ass kid!"

The trio looked around the corner to see Tatsuo, wearing a well cut black suit rather than his school uniform, standing down the hall. In his left hand was his own sword within a wooden sheath. Unlike a standard katana his blade was straight rather than curved and there was no guard separating the hilt from the blade. Tatsuo breathed a sigh and looked at his unwilling subordinate in the eyes. "Look, it's troublesome to deal with guys like you. I didn't ask for this position for Christmas present or something; oyabun gave it to me for my hard work." There was a hint of complaint in his voice. "Even then the trouble to get it was massive. Do you how many times I nearly got killed trying to get it. When I was little kid he made me train my ass off with swords to get strong enough to make it this far. What I'm trying to say is in this job everyone's going to get some shit. So let's just get along until the end of this mission. After that we can settle this in a more reasonable fashion."

Despite Tatsuo's request this stubborn yakuza member was not interested in words. He was prepared to settle things right here, right now. He stood with his sword gripped in both hands. He fumed with rage and that rage poured into his sword causing it to quiver. Finally he charged at Tatsuo his blade backed with the power of his piece. Tatsuo simply pointed his index finger at the man realizing he had no intentions of being civilized. Out of his finger surged one powerful bolt of electricity towards the man. Before he could raise his sword to deflect, the bolt, which on the first attack sent him flying, passed clean through his body. The yakuza's sword dropped to the floor making a metallic clattering sound as it did. Blood spewed out of his mouth as he fell backwards onto ground. With a thud he collapsed unconscious.

Tatsuo sighed out and rubbed the back of his head. He looked down for a moment let the thoughts about his actions run through his head. He quickly came to the conclusion he was in the right in this situation and looked back up to find Selphie standing there looking at him. He stood silent for a moment before going wide eyed and with a panicked look on his face. He quickly looked back down and started vigorously rubbing the back of his head. "_Fuck!_" he thought to himself "_Okay I just electrocuted a guy in front of a girl I like. Alright it could be worse. I could have killed him which didn't because I made sure miss his vitals. Right?_" Tatsuo looked back up to find Selphie right in front of him. "Aaaaah!" He shouted jumping backwards.

He regained his composure to find Selphie giggling. "Your cute you know that?"

"Sure, the guy who shot a lightning bolt through one of his own men is _real_ cute." Tidus muttered.

Wakka playfully nudged him in the shoulder, "Hey, you're the one who blew every chance to ask her out."

"Wait, you mean oyabun wants you guys to come with me instead?" Tatsuo asked from across the hall.

Akira himself came around the corner and looked at his son with a smile, "Yes, Tatsuo, I do." Despite his fatherly smile, Akira spoke in a stern voice. "There isn't a problem with that. Is there?"

"Um, no, sir." Tatsuo said frantically while bowing.

"Good. Well you kids have fun." Finally Akira Gin looked down and saw the insubordinate man lying on the floor. As Tatsuo suspected, the lightning bolt missed the man's vital organs but there would be an obvious scar where it had passed through his body. "That was risk I took when I gave you this position, Tatsuo. However, Takashi knew the rules as well as anyone else. I'll make an example out of him. He knows what is waiting for him when he wakes up."

Without even a word of command two men came over and carried Takashi's limp body away. With that said and done Akira returned to his business. Right now unknown to most of the group he was running a private investigation into the terrorist that attack the subway tunnels. Like Black Phoenix he was looking at the situation from a business stand point. The Gin group had a financial stake in the subway system meaning that the group would suffer financial loss due to the damage done. Legal issues were also a problem for him. The secret tunnel system had been a project between the Gin group and Black Phoenix. The intent of it was to allow both parties easier movement throughout Daltus. Mongram's government had no idea it existed thus had no idea where to look. If Akira simply told them to look in a tunnel system that should not be there in the first place, which he could thanks to his contacts, he would have to explain how it got there in the first place which was something he could not afford to do. Akira's personal sense of morality played a factor as well. Though the Gin group was a group of gangsters, innocent people who had nothing to do them were involved in the incident.

Though all these facts were driving Akira immediate actions they were not behind the investigation. His investigation was behind a tip he had received about the terrorists. It was not just crazy conspiracy theorist but an actual tip with actual substance. That substance was made of files on the various members of a group known as the Turks. As far as Akira knew they were the covert unit of a small planet out of Faltian grasp. Akira did not believe this for a second. Why would a free planet attack another rather than making peace? Mongram's military force known as Guardian Corp while small compared to Faltia's was no push over. The advanced weapons their soldiers used were more than enough to keep the imperial army at bay preventing a takeover. With that in mind what sense did it make to commit an act of war.

Pondering these thoughts once again, Akira walked into the room where he and the three teenagers had been having tea. Waiting inside for him was his second in command and next in line for head of the Gin group his younger brother Atsushi Gin. Like the rest of the group he wore a suit, and his black hair was drawn into a short ponytail.

Atsushi who was helping himself to the tea looked up and said "It's just as you suspected, brother." He closed his eyes and took another sip of his tea, "The ones who tipped us off are definitely the same people who hired Crow on that rescue operation."

Akira sat on his knees across the short table looked at his brother, "Yes, I thought it was suspicious that Cornel was attacked at the same time when Black Phoenix's strength was cut. Normally I would think of it as suspicious anyway. After his morning jog around the city, Cornel boards the subway train every day to avoid sunlight. It's the same subway train at the station at the same time. What makes a normal terrorist attack sound strange is the timing. Why attack towards the end of rush hour rather than in the middle of it?"

"Also there's the tunnel system." Atsushi added now pouring his older brother a cup of tea. "Even in our group there are very few who can access it right now. And even then they need approval from one of us."

"But what is also concerning is how fast we received the tip. Within twenty minutes of the first attack the file had already reached my hand. It's like they knew this would happen and planned for it."

"There's also the fact that the files we received were total bullshit. There's no place in this or any galaxy called 'Radiant Garden'."

"Whether or not there's such a thing as 'Radiant Garden' someone still planted those bombs in the subway and I need to know who." Atsushi raised an eyebrow when his brother said this. The tone of his voice was different from his usual relaxed one. The only times Akira spoke like this were the times when he was not sure what all the pieces in play were and where they were at. "I don't want this conversation leaving this room just yet. As it stands now, we don't know who our enemy is or what they want. If members in the lower ranks find out that we might be being targeted by some ghost planet, it may cause more trouble than it would otherwise. I want our defenses raised and everyone on alert for the next two months at least. No one should question in light of this incident."

"Understood. I'll pass this along immediately." Atsushi said before he bowed his head to the floor with his hands right next to it. With his brother out of the way Akira had time to think and plan for the near future. Who were these mysterious enemies? What should his next move be?

Despite his thoughts and preparations, no one realized that the main estate of the Gin group had visitor. This visitor was a yellow beaked raven.

**Pieces**

Within the tunnel, Cornel and Riku had seen more or less the same…of nothing. Nothing but the stone walls and the drilling vehicle they were riding in. Having dosed off on more than one account, Riku was not sure how far they had gone or long they had been going, but guessed it had been at least two and a half hours.

"Exactly how are going find terrorist driving around in a dimly lit cave with no idea where they are or where they might be?" Riku asked.

"Obviously we keep going until find someone who shouldn't be down here. Then we're gonna torture him till he tells where his pals are. Unless by some chance this is a one man job. Then I'll just kill him on the spot."

Riku did not bother arguing about the murderous intentions. While he would have preferred to avoid bloodshed, he realized that Cornel was not the type to show any mercy to anyone, especially his own enemies. Though, he pondered what could have made him like this. So cruel and uncaring.

But his thoughts were interrupted when Cornel suddenly slammed on the brakes bringing them to a complete stop. Riku's seatbelt was the only thing that kept him from face planting into the windshield. However, he was jolted forward then pulled back onto seat. After a short moment of disorientation, Riku prepared himself to yell at Cornel for stopping out of nowhere but kept his mouth closed when he looked outside. In front was a mass of blackness ebbing up and down forming shapes and figures among it. These figures had sharp claws and long wiry antennae. Most distinctively were the yellow circles that served as eyes.

"Heartless…" Riku said just loud enough for Cornel to hear.

"Heartless? I don't know what the fuck a Heartless is, but these things are gonna be headless when I'm through 'em." Cornel said with a sinister smile. Ready to back his words up, Cornel grabbed Riku by the shoulder and warped them out of the vehicle. For a moment Riku felt queasy still not adjusting to Cornel's powers. "You get used to it." He said before a long set of silver chains fell out of his grey sleeves.

Riku stared for a second as the chains clattered to the ground. "Wait. Where the hell did _those_ come from?" He asked pointing down. Cornel gripped the chains which were still connected at some point within his sleeves and spikes protruded out of the links below them. Without thinking twice, Cornel swung his left arm bringing the chain along with it in large arch. The chain scraped against the wall and chipped some rocks off as it did so. When Cornel's attack reached the Heartless they began to charge at Riku and him without making any effort to avoid the chain. All the Heartless that got hit which was quite a few, were blown clean through being torn to pieces. To Cornel's surprise and disappointment, the creatures disappeared into black clouds rather than letting out blood curtailing screams of pain.

Despite Cornel's sweeping attack many of the Heartless still managed to reach them. Riku with Way to Dawn ready slashed at his enemy which he saw to be the lowest form of the Heartless known as 'Shadows.' They were nothing to be concerned at his level and experience with these creatures and, Cornel had absolutely no trouble defeating them himself. What concerned Riku was the fact that they were there in the first place.

Despite the large numbers, Riku and Cornel had no trouble dispatching their foes. By the time Cornel had gotten used to the fact that they could sink into the ground there were only about ten left.

"Well that was fucking waste of time." Cornel said as his chains retracted back into his sleeves. "Hey, fucktards, why don't you sorry asses show yourselves instead of sending your useless cronies out!" Cornel's voice echoed down the tunnels reverberating against walls for a few seconds before dying out. "Hmph, fuckers…. Now as for you Ricky…" Cornel turned to Riku.

"It's Riku."

"What the fuck ever. Bottom line is you know what those things were. Now start talkin' before I make you."

Riku dismissed his Keyblade and breathed for a moment before speaking. "You understand what heart is. I mean, not the physical but the spiritual?" Cornel nodded. His experience with Jake and Isabel gave him multiple experiences with the heart. Particularly with magic. "Well, when some one's heart becomes consumed by darkness they become beings know as Heartless. They act on pure instinct seeking to claim more hearts to become even more powerful. My weapon the Keyblade has the power to release captured hearts."

"In other words they're what happen when weak idiots try to use power they can't handle."

Cornel's simple analogy proved rather effective in this case. Truthfully the first Heartless were formed under such circumstances. Although, Riku would not consider those people to be idiots. "That's not all you should know. If a person that becomes a Heartless has a strong enough will the empty shell they leave behind become beings called Nobodies. Unlike Heartless, a Nobody acts on its thoughts rather than instincts. They think and plan. But because they don't have hearts they lack any emotions. There are a few exceptions to that part but I think you get the most of it."

"So Heartless are the weaklings' consumed heart and Nobodies are the emotionless shells they leave behind." Cornel once again chose the simplistic way of putting things. "Something doesn't make sense. If these Heartless things want to eat other people's hearts, why the hell are they down where there are no fucking people? Are they retarded or something?"

Riku put his hand to chin in thought. "Well, there are people who can control the Heartless. I could myself for a while. Not to mention they're prone to attack people with the Keyblade. Of course the fact that our hearts are stronger than most may have something to do with it."

"So they're either looking to turn you into a snack or under some one's orders."

"Yup."

"Then follow the Heartless." Cornel said noticing a few more up ahead. "If they're under some one's command they'll lead us straight to him." Cornel charged straight at the Heartless chains ready.

"Wait it's not simple!" Riku said chasing after, "At least I don't think it should be."

**Pieces**

Elsewhere in the tunnels, Tatsuo, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were headed to where their informant had told the Gin Group where the "Turks" were located. Tatsuo had his doubts about the information given to them but trusted his father's judgment more. There was also the fact that he had developed an attraction towards Selphie and apparently to him, obviously to Tidus and Wakka, vice versa. Wakka found himself rather amused by this development particularly because of how Tidus was reacting.

"Tour giving, luxury car sending, suit wearing, lightning bolt shooting son of a bitch." Tidus mumbled to himself. It was loud enough that Wakka, who walked right next to him, could hear but not so loud that Tatsuo or Selphie, who were about eight feet ahead, could.

"Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game." Wakka said, "If you'd just asked her out like I said you should we wouldn't be watchin' this right now."

By "this" Wakka was referring to the cheerful conversation being had between Tatsuo Selphie. As Tidus feared the two obviously liked each other. Though they had only known each other for less than a day, they got along great. The two of them discussed their lives and family. Selphie was quite surprised when she found out someone like Tatsuo came from a gangster family and even more so when she heard that he personally took part in the Gin Group's activities. Tatsuo on the other hand was more interested in life on a tropical island. Selphie explained that unlike Daltus, the weather of which changes with the seasons that only lasted two weeks, her home of Destiny Islands stayed warm all year round.

Tidus could only listen to their conversation in silence. Wakka was right. If he had spoken sooner maybe Selphie would not be so interested in Tatsuo. Hell, they might even be dating right now. He could not stand aside and let some "Tour giving, luxury car sending, suit wearing, lightning bolt shooting son of a bitch" sweep Selphie off her feet in some cheesy love at first sight romance. Tidus looked up at Wakka who gave him a "go for it" look seeing the determination in his eyes.

Without any hesitation, Tidus closed the gap between him and Selphie. In his head this was the do or die moment. Tell Selphie how he feels or risk losing her for good. Though his thoughts were completely over exaggerated he still prepared himself to face the worst. However, right before he could grab Selphie's shoulders to spin her around, Cornel's shout of challenge reverberated against the walls. "_Hey, fucktards, why don't you sorry asses show yourselves instead of sending your useless cronies out!_"

This sudden sound caused everyone turn look around including Selphie who saw that Tidus was standing right over her. The two of them stared at each for a moment before both of their faces turned red with embarrassment. In the background Wakka faced palmed his self at this stroke of misfortune. "_Could you have timed that any worse?_" He thought to himself.

"Um, did you want anything, Tidus?" Selphie asked.

"Uh, no, not really." Tidus was very confused. He had never had problems asking girls out before. At least, not after the first time he didn't. So why was it such a problem now? Perhaps telling someone you have been friends your whole life how you have feelings for them is harder than telling someone you hardly know. Maybe that is why Selphie and Tatsuo were hitting it off so well.

"Should I give you two a moment alone?" Tatsuo asked nervously.

"No!" was the simultaneous answer.

"Okay…" he said rubbing the back of his head. That being said Wakka decided to join pack to try restoring some normality to the group. This did not go over very well as Tidus and Selphie remained silent as they continued through the tunnels. At some point Selphie moved ahead of the group while Tidus fell behind leaving Wakka and Tatsuo in between.

For at least fifteen minutes there was silence other then the group's footsteps. None of them were sure what to say to each other so they didn't say anything. For the most part they all thought about something. Selphie tried to understand if Tidus liked her, why did he not come out and say it. Tidus wondered what Selphie could see in Tatsuo. Tatsuo wanted to figure out why Wakka had not done something to set these two up. And Wakka just wanted to figure out how long it would take get Selphie and Tidus talking again.

Before anyone realized how much time had passed, they had reached a fork in the tunnels. Selphie turned around to ask Tatsuo which way to go and saw him unfolding the piece of paper his father had given him to read the directions off of. "Right." He said with some doubt in his voice. It was obvious to the three others that something was wrong. "Tell me something. What do think of this situation? It's a more than a little suspicious that someone not only had the exact location of these terrorists but also was willing to give them to us."

"It's called doing the right thing." Tidus said from behind. "Maybe this person just felt guilty about being a part of the bombing or something and wanted to make up for somehow."

"I doubt that. If he wanted to apologize he would have gone to the government, not yakuza." Tatsuo stated. "If they wanted justice they wouldn't have kept these tunnels secret. The more than likely case is that they wanted revenge. That makes more sense considering we have no intentions showing any mercy, whereas the government would give them a trial."

"What does it matter, ya?" Wakka asked. "They've got what's comin' to 'em anyway."

"Easy. How do we know that the informant doesn't have his own plans in mind? What if he just wants everyone distracted so we don't see what he's really up to?"

For moment they all pondered the possibilities of Tatsuo's theory. This moment was cut short by an unknown voice. "You're not seriously about to believe this guy are you." Out of the right tunnel came a tall man with a lit cigar in his mouth. He was garbed in a black suit and tie set, black gloves, and sunglasses. His orange hair was slicked back and accented by side burns. "You three are here looking for Princess Kairi aren't you?" He said looking at Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. Wakka nodded. The man took his cigar out of his mouth and breathed the smoke. He then pointed at Tatsuo. "Then help me tie this guy up so I can make him tell me where she is."

"What are you talking about?" Tatsuo asked. "I've never heard of your princess before."

"Don't bullshit me." The man said before taking another puff off his cigar. "I know damn well the Gin group is holding Princess Kairi captive. We have photos to prove it. There's no use lyin' to me." Despite the seriousness of his accusations his tone was surprisingly relaxed. "Look tell ya what, kid. Hand her highness over to me without a fight and nobody gets hurt. Deal?"

Tatsuo drew his sword from its sheath and held it at his right side. He kept the sheath itself in his left. "Honestly, you're as good as dead at this point." He pointed the blade at the man. "The question is this: will you die here, or will you after being tortured. I could care less." Like the man, Tatsuo remained totally relaxed while saying this.

The man now finished with his cigar dropped it to the ground after taking one last puff. "Guess we gotta do this the hard way." He said as he took out a black orb. "Hold on. You three, this is your last chance. Help me bring this guy down, or you're the enemies of Radiant Garden."

"I have one question." Selphie said stepping up next to Tatsuo. "Are you the one who planted those bombs?"

The man shrugged. "What can I say? Orders are orders."

"You bastard!" The anger in Selphie's voice was as clear as it was in her facial expression. "Orders? How could you even dream of following orders like those? Those were innocent people you killed! And you don't even care do you? I may become an enemy Radiant Garden but I won't let you or anyone else get away this."

"The same goes for us." Tidus said brandishing his Brotherhood sword. "Kairi is _our_ friend, and we know she sure as hell wouldn't have wanted this to rescue her."

"You're making it sound we actually kidnapped her." Tatsuo said to Tidus rubbing the back of his head with the sheath. "Which we didn't."

"The point is you're goin' down." Wakka with his blitzball tucked into his arm.

"I, the legendary Turk, 'the death god of the battlefield' Rejendo, am going down." He sneered at them. "See, if it really were four-on-one you might have an astronomically small chance of winning. But seeing as it's four-on-four, the only question here is how long you'll last." Out from the shadows behind Rejendo appeared a dark brown haired woman wearing the same attire with the exception of the sunglasses.

"Sorry, but I only count two." Tidus said preparing to charge.

"They're behind us, aren't they?" Tatsuo said with a grim expression. Now he had turned around to see two more figures. One was a blond haired woman with a pistol in hand. The other was a man with slicked back hair holding a katana. A scar ran from his left eye down to his jaw.

"Gotta love magic." Rejendo said with a sneer. "Now then, next up is killing you…" He began to reel his arm back. "…then retrieving the princess." With that Rejendo threw the orb straight at Selphie. Before anyone else had time to react, Tatsuo unleashed a lightning bolt and intercepted the orb at mid flight. What took the orbs place, however, was powerful explosion. Because they shielded their eyes to keep the dust out, none of the group saw the brown haired woman pass through the cloud. By the time Tatsuo opened his eyes, all he could see was the shoe of the woman.

Before he could process what had happened, Tatsuo found himself off the ground and half the distance from the group and the other two Turks. Both of them had their weapons drawn prepared to cut and/or shoot him. "God damn it." He muttered while re sheathing his sword. Tatsuo held out his free hand and shouted "_Ryu no ame!_" A shower of lightning bolts shot out of Tatsuo's hands raining down on the Turks. They dodged the technique with ease, allowing Tatsuo to fall into the cloud of smoke he created. With their weapons they waited for the yakuza to emerged hoping to get him in one shot. "_Ryu no ha!_" The Turks jumped out of the path of the electrical blade and saw Tatsuo running past them at incredible speeds with his zatoichi blade redrawn. "_Fighting the like that is no good. We'll have to pick them off one at a time to win._"

Tatsuo's plan to pick them off was being aided to a degree. Instead seeing the group fighting against the Turks, he saw the woman who kicked him earlier who thanks to the wings of light on her back was flying straight towards him. Despite ducking to avoid collision, Tatsuo still ending getting kicked in the back causing him to face-plant into the ground. He quickly stood up and turned around expecting another attack, but saw the woman fly towards comrades until the wings disappeared after which she landed on her feet.

"Why didn't you throw her at that Rejendo guy?" Tidus asked looking at Selphie.

"Because it'll be easier to fight one instead of two, duh." She replied.

"So, you did that?" Tatsuo said coming to a hold next to her.

"Yep. 'Gotta love magic' right?" She told Rejendo who was holding one of his black bombs. With no hesitation, another bomb was thrown. Selphie stood in front of the group with her nunchuka held in front of her. Right before the bomb hit wall of light appeared shielding the group from the blast.

When the barrier came down, Tidus ran through the smoke of the explosion at incredible speeds reaching Rejendo in no time. He took a slash at Rejendo who dodged despite being startled by Tidus's speed. Tidus attacked again this time managing to graze the Turk's cheek. Realizing that close ranged combat would disadvantageous, Rejendo leg swept Tidus and jumped back. While in the air, he threw another black bomb at Tidus planning to finish him. Fortunately, the bomb was intercepted by Wakka's blitzball and exploded in the air.

Wakka reeled back for another attack aiming straight at Rejendo's head. He stopped when he heard the sound of gun shots. Tatsuo who apparently deflected the bullet stood behind him covered in electrical sparks that jumped from one point of his body to another. "I'll watch your backs. You three just focus on taking out big guy over there, alright." He said with a smile. He then concentrated the electricity into his sword, and unleashed another "Ryu no ha" attack. Two of the three backed up and jumped to avoid the attack. The exception was the swordsman who jumped forward and brought his sword down Tatsuo. It was blocked by the straight blade of the zatoichi and pushed off. Tatsuo moved quickly to engage the scarred man slamming their swords together.

To Tatsuo's back, Rejendo found himself in a tight spot. Not only did he have to dodge Tidus's sword, but also he had to keep an eye out for Wakka's ball and Selphie's magic. However, he was not the "legendary Turk" for nothing. After ducking underneath one of the slashes, Rejendo grabbed Tidus by the belt and flipped him over his head. He quickly followed with a kick to the stomach that sent Tidus into the floor. Rejendo then threw a bomb at Wakka but was blocked again. Following Tidus's example, he charged though the smoke and caught Wakka off guard leaving an opening for a punch to the face. Wakka staggered back a few feet but was not able to recover in time. Rejendo quickly executed a volley of left and right jabs restricting any possible resistance.

He prepared finish Wakka off with another bomb, but was interrupted by a strike from Selphie's nunchuka. When Rejendo turned around he saw that Selphie had faint glow around her body. "_Rapture!_" she shouted. A pair of the wings that carried the kicking woman into Tatsuo's head appeared on Rejendo's back. Before head a chance to react he was lifted off his feet and into the air. Selphie pointed her nunchuka towards the swordsman who Tatsuo was still engaging. Like a remote control car, Rejendo flew off and crashed into his comrade. Both of them were dragged off into the female Turks who had been providing support from the back. They managed to avoid collision by moving out backwards allowing the airborne Turks crash land.

Tatsuo saw his chance to end this fight in one moved. Despite usually gentle exterior, he could easily become one of the most ruthless people in the city. That was something the body count in Daltus's criminal underworld could attest to. He fired a lightning bolt from the tip of his blade at the bomb that Rejendo had dropped upon landing triggering its detonation. Before any of the Turks had a chance to move they were engulfed in the flames. "Let's go!" Tatsuo shouted. The others followed him running towards the tunnel were the enemy base supposedly was. Wakka and Tidus scrabbled to feet despite wondering what the rush was about. The massive second explosion made them realize that the other bombs Rejndo was carrying were going off as well.

The group managed to reach the huge cavern that the Turks were hiding out in prior to their sudden demise before the flames reached them. What they found was not what they had expected that being a ton of equipment or other Turks. What was there was massive Shadow lying on the ground slowly fading away. Smoke like waves of darkness lifted from its humongous body. Its arms and antennae wreathed and lurched on the ground in the agony of its demise. Finally it disappeared leaving behind no prove of its existence other than the damage that it had caused. Riku, Cornel, Shizuko, Sander, and Xia each had their respective weapons in Sander's case being a large mace with a steel ball at the ready in case the Heartless still had some fight left in it.

"And where the fuck have you been, lightning boy?" Cornel asked retracting the chains into his sleeves.

"Good to see you too, Cornel." He responded rubbing the back of his head. "More importantly what was that big black thing?"

"Honestly I'm more concerned about if there are more of them." Sander said before letting rod of his mace collapse into the sphere which shrank into the size of a baseball. He pocketed it before speaking. "Whatever it was it could use the 'Expansion' Piece."

"A Heartless using a Piece, that doesn't make sense." Riku said.

"I collected the data using PT Wave reader on my phone." Shizuko said with her black phone in hand. "It definitely used a Piece. However, it wasn't 'Expansion' it used. You should that it's an impossibility to begin with."

"Blah, blah, blah Heartless, Pieces, I could give two shits. Now where are these punk ass terrorists so I can fuck them up?" Cornel said ready tear something into shreds. "Jumbo here wasn't worth my time."

Tidus and Wakka were looking out into the tunnel which now had small embers burning on the ground. With little to keep them going, they would burn out quickly enough. Tidus who had a few bruises turned back and looked at Cornel "You could check for yourself but, they're probably extra crispy now."

Cornel shrugged it off and turned to Riku, "Hey, Ricky, you have any clue where Jumbo came from? I'm sure an army of them would be interesting to fight."

"It wasn't any Heartless I've ever seen. At least I don't think was." Riku said tapping his chin.

"It looked like a Shadow. Only it was supersized." Selphie motioned her hands far apart for emphasis.

"It started small then got big." Xia stated spinning one of her rings around her finger. "It may as well have stayed that way sense it did not get any stronger. Eh, who are you anyway?"

"We can handle introductions later. What I'd like to know where it came from." Riku said. He then began to frantically look around only to find something missing. Something he had not been thinking about for most of the day. "Um, where's Sora?"

**Pieces**

In the throne room of a black stone castle sat a sorceress. This sorceress known as Maleficent was waiting on her servants to report back. Her amber eyes that stood out against her pale green skin looked down at the two black swirling portals that appeared before her. Out of one came Rayn, a dark blue haired girl wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. Among the blue were purple highlights here and there. Out of the other came Pete. An overweight anthropomorphic black furred cat wearing overalls with large pockets with a red shirt underneath. On his shoulders were a set of metal guards and on hands fingerless gloves.

"Good after noon, Lady Maleficent." Rayn greeted with the utmost respect and a smile. Despite Maleficent's intimidating looks considering most people would be scared of a woman with horns on her head, Rayn was quite calm in her presence.

"Kiss up." Pete taunted which earned him Rayn's fist into his stomach. Rayn was small when compared to Pete in spite of the fact that she was much stronger than him. "Why are you even here? Don't you have a mission to be doin'?"

"First of all, Lady Maleficent called me here herself." She said before sweeping Pete's legs from under him. "Secondly, what happened to _your_ mission? Where's that '_Heapin' pile o' Heartless'_…" she said this in a hillbilly accent while jumping from one leg to other and swinging her arms back and forth. "… that you said you'd come back with."

"Why you little runt!" Pete said pushing himself onto his feet. "I'm gonna make a Heartless outta' you! Nobody messes with the mighty Pete!"

"Oh no! It's the 'mighty Pete.'" Her sarcasm knew no bounds. "Run away or he'll sit on you!"

Rayn began to laugh at her own jokes when Maleficent slammed her staff into the ground sending sparks at the two of them. "I've had enough of this childish bickering from the both of you!"

"Sorry, Lady Maleficent." Rayn said with respect.

"Now then, Rayn, how much of our operation have you readied?" The witch asked.

"Those Black Phoenix idiots have the princess of heart with them and don't suspect a thing. They're headed for Sera Castle without a clue what of we've got planned. Back on Daltus, the Turkeys should be either captured or dead. Either way, the yakuza and Mongram are pretty pissed at them. Tell a kingdom their princess is being held captive and they'll blow through anything to get her back. Of course, I faked some pretty convincing evidence if I do say so myself. But damn, I didn't really think they'd blow up a train! That was too stupid! But on the bad side, that Riku guy destroyed my experiment. I guess it wasn't too powerful but still, I managed to get it just right that time." What she pouted over was her destroyed Shadow.

"Don't feel bad." Maleficent encouraged "A Heartless that can use Pieces is a truly marvelous creation indeed. Just what I need for my plans. And what's the status on Sera Castle."

"Everyone you want there is there or on their way. I even threw in a few extras for good measure. If we're lucky they'll all end killing up each other." Rayn said with her vigor restored. "If I may, could leave to the castle now. Even with the Corridors of Darkness it takes a while to get there."

"Go. And Rayn, if our princess doesn't comply, feel free to cut off a limb or two. Just make sure she comes back alive." Maleficent coldly stated.

"Looks like I get to have some fun. Bye, Lady Maleficent. _See ya'll later, Pete_." Rayn exited through a corridor before Pete got the chance to pounce on her.

"Now then as for you Pete, where is my 'heapin' pile o' Heartless?'" Maleficent asked.

"Well uh, you see one of those Black Phoenix brats got in my way. Cut 'em down faster than I could make 'em." Pete said with some trembling in his voice. "Seeing as the dreadlocked kid used the darkness, I offered him a deal. Help me, by me I meant us of course, capture the girl with only light in her heart, and get a chance to rule the universe with me; I mean us."

"And then what happened?" She said showing some irritation in her voice.

"Oh um, he declined." Before Pete knew it dark lightning had struck him. He stood up trembling even more than before. "B-but it wasn't my fault. Those stupid Heartless kept goin' after him for some reason almost like they go after that annoying Keyblade brat."

"They attacked him like the key bearer." Maleficent's look of annoyance turned into a look of intrigue. "That is most interesting. I believe I have some research that needs to be done." Maleficent looked down at her minion. "You head over to Daltus and speak with this man when he wakes up. I believe he could be some use to us." From the crystal ball on her staff was projected on image of Takashi sleeping with bandages on his chest.

"Will do." Pete said opening the corridor. Truthfully, he was only leaving to avoid the risk of being struck by lightning again.

"My stronger servant is a child and the older one is a buffoon beyond all help." The sorceress said rubbing her temples. Finding good evil henchmen was much harder than it sounded.

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Rejendo "the death god of the battlefield"_

_Age: 33_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-Turks_

_Weapon: bombs_

* * *

_Name: Akira Gin_

_Age: 37_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Gin Group-boss_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Atsushi Gin_

_Age: 34_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Gin Group_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Maleficent_

_Age: (lightning bolted when I asked)_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: herself_

_Weapon: crystal ball staff_

* * *

_Name: Pete_

_Age: 38_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Maleficent-servant_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Rayn_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: 53,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Maleficent-loyal follower_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Takashi Oshiro_

_Age: 26_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Gin Group_

_Weapon: katana_

**Updates**

_Name: Tidus_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: "Brotherhood"_

* * *

_Name: Selphie Tilmitt_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: nunchuka_

* * *

_Name: Wakka_

_Age: 17_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: blitzball_

* * *

_Name: Cornel Stelea "Blood Chain"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-"Warp Space"_

_Imperial Bounty: 23,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix- commando _

_Weapon: spike chain_

* * *

_Name: Sanderson Daniel _

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 20,000,000 munny _

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-business handler_

_Weapon: mace_

**Deceased**

_Rejendo_

* * *

_**Wow I killed three people in their first chapter, and only bothered naming one of them. In fact the others don't even get lines.**_

**Hope you liked it, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.**

**I hate the fanfic editor by the way. See Ya!**


	5. Sera Castle

**_Here we go, the fifth chapter. I finished this at one AM Eastern standard but was too tired (coughlazycough) to post it. Any ways enjoy _**

* * *

"**Sera Castle"**

Felix sat at a round table with a dark skinned man with an afro and a small beard around his mouth. This was the long time friend of Black Phoenix named Sazh Katzroy, owner and manager of the Katzroy Rest Stop and Aerodrome. On the table were Felix's crow, Worc, and a chocobo chick that assumedly were having a conversation in their own avian tongue.

"Can you go a week without showing up in news?" Sazh asked with a smile. He sounded slightly amused by Felix's endeavors to make trouble. "I mean, I'm not that big of a fan of the empire but, come on."

"Ah, give me a break, Sazh." Felix whined. He then took a sip of the Mountain Dew in front of him. "I've done worse." He had done far worst to the Faltian Empire in the past. In fact, Black Phoenix had caused so much trouble, entire new laws and regulations regarding the matter of criminal capture and containment had been created. "Just think about that shit that happened at Desert Falls."

"Yeah, I remember that real well. Brought my business to grinding halt for three days." Sazh replied with less amusement than before. The details of this incident were classified and with a good reason. All that was known to the public was that the Imperial base that once stood there was gone without a trace.

"Hey, they started it. I wasn't even doing anything that time." Before anything else could be said, Dajh, Sazh's six-year-old son, walked into the room. He came in looking for his pet, the chocobo chick, and ran up to the table upon seeing. Like his father, Dajh sported a large afro. "Dajh, what's up?" Felix said before extended his fist for a rock.

After bumping his fist with Felix's, Dajh held his hand out over the table which told the chick to fly into Dajh's afro. Before he turned away, he relayed a message to his father, "Daddy, Isabel, wants to talk to you." He looked up at his dad waiting for response.

"That can't be good." Felix said standing up. He picked up his Mountain Dew and chugged it down before turning towards the door. "Let's see what la loca chica wants before she starts shooting."

"Why do let that girl run around with guns anyway?" Sazh asked following him. Now that he was standing up, his own Vega 42 pistols were visible both of which were strapped to his legs. Dajh followed up behind him.

"Hey, that girl may be crazy, but she's damn a good shot."

Katzroy was more than just a rest stop. It was situated on a small planetoid with an artificial atmosphere. Not only did it have an aerodrome but also a small inn for intergalactic travelers. There was also a convenience store which sold food, clothes, and other such stuffs for a person on the go. Isabel had gone to this to get a new shirt since her old one had a bloody hole in it.

Felix, Sazh, and Dajh arrived at the convenience store and were greeted by the resounding sound of a flying piece of lead. "Estas son rasgar los precios, Sazh!" She said hold a gun in the right hand and a new green shirt in the left. Simone and Umihana were standing little ways off from her. Umihana was somewhat scared considering what kind of personality this girl had displayed so far. Simone was rather passive. "Twenty four hundred munny for this thing, it ain't happening."

"I'll have you know that's made of premium flame retardant, insolating material." Sazh defended. "The way I see it, you're getting more your munny." He then looked over to the cash register and called to his cowering employee. "Get out from under there." Sazh said obviously annoyed.

"She has a gun." The man whimpered as he slowly rose out from under the counter.

"You've got one under the counter." Sazh reminded.

"Oh yeah." The cashier said pulling the revolver. While holding the gun man's fingers slipped and pulled the trigger firing another bullet at Simone. Simone calmly blew her breath creating small breeze of flame. When the flames cleared, what was left was the bullet incased in a pale blue block of ice. The block fell the floor and immediately began to evaporate.

"Cool!" Dajh said running to pick up the ice.

Before he could reach the ice, it melted, boiled, and returned to air, leaving Dajh disappointed, "Sorry, Dajh." Simone said, "Some things don't like to be played with." The chocobo chic flew out of the boy's hair, reminding him who his favorite play mate was.

Felix was still laughing at the cashier incompetence with the firearm. He was not surprised at him being afraid of Isabel. "Must be hard finding help these days, huh, Sazh?"

"You have no idea." Sazh said shaking his head. "Say, where's Jake and Duffie? Weren't they with you?"

"I'm pretty sure Duffie went to work on the ship we stole." Simone was now holding a can of Mountain Dew with a popsicle stick in it. The can lit up with purple flames before falling apart and leaving behind a hunk of frozen Mountain Dew on a stick which Simone handed to a happy Dajh. "Jake said he wanted to talk to Naminé. They're up on roof right now."

"Okay I'm getting sick of the joke. Who the hell is Naminé and why can't me and Duffie see or hear her, but you guys can?" Felix asked clearly irritated.

"How many times do we have to explain this?" Umihana asked. "Naminé is my Nobody."

"Care to explain again. You said Nobodies are the empty shells people leave behind when they become Heartless. Problem is you don't have any darkness in your heart meaning you can't become Heartless. If you can't become a Heartless how can have a Nobody?" Felix scrutinized.

"Does that matter?" Isabel asked. "Unlike us, you can't sense people's hearts meaning that's it impossible for you to even notice her. Besides I only hear her as an incredibly loud annoying static, so I should be the one who's complaining."

"I can only sense Naminé's soul. The only reason I noticed her was because she was conflicting with Umihana. I can only feel her presence." Simone admitted.

"You understand anything they're talking about?" Sazh asked his son. Whatever Dajh said in response was garbled thanks to the fact that his tongue was stuck to the Mountain Dew.

**Pieces**

"You still haven't answered my question." Naminé told Jake. To anyone else, it would seem like Jake was talking to himself, but he could see Naminé. She had light blond hair and blue eyes rather than Umihana's red and indigo. Her transparent body was mostly covered by a white sundress. The two of them were sitting on the roof of Katzroy's gazing out the stars. "Why didn't help me?"

"If a random person whom you've never met before suddenly shows up in your dreams, would you believe a word they say?" Jake asked.

"Basically you didn't trust me?"

"Bingo." Jake said looking up at the stars. "That's not to say there weren't other reasons. First of all I didn't have any idea how to reach you even if I did believe you."

"You left before I could tell"

Jake paused. "Okay you got me there. But seriously, how could my coming have helped anyway. Wouldn't the Organization just have you manipulate my memories?"

"Your Piece. You can cancel out magic as well. I'm sure could've resisted my power."

"It's not as simple as that," Jake stated matter-of-factly. "Even though I've never met you we're connected. You're connected to whoever has Ventus's heart. And because Vanitas, or rather what's left of him, is inside my heart, you'd have a backdoor way in. Not to mention Vanitas has been waiting for a chance to take over for eleven and a half years. I'd like him to stay deep within the bowels of my heart where that backdoor would be thank you."

"I'd think you'd be fine." Naminé said with a smile "You've been able to resist Vanitas for this long; I don't see why you couldn't hold him back in that scenario."

"Easy. He's been slowly recovering by feeding on all of my anger and rage. This build up has been slow and steady and I could adjust to the new strength he obtained. Who knows what could happen if he suddenly got a massive amount a ground against me."

"You underestimate yourself. You're not like Organization XIII or Xehanort. Your heart hasn't been consumed by the darkness or is being controlled by anyone. The darkness you have inside of you, it isn't cold and evil like the darkness I've seen in the past. It's cool and natural like the earth. I suppose Isabel is an exception too. Her light isn't a gentle warmth. It's burning with hatred and anger. But, I suppose that comes from the way her life has been. I could look into her memories and see what made her like this, but honestly I'm a bit afraid she'd notice, come up here, and try to shoot me. Even though I don't have a body, her bullets are backed by magic and probably hit me anyway."

"She'd probably shoot me first or at least try."

Naminé giggled at this. "I guess she would. But, my point is you're different anyone I've ever seen before. Even Riku was controlled at first but, you never lost yourself. You always remained you."

"Exactly how many of my memories did you through before I noticed?" Jake asked curious as to how much of his personal life had been looked through.

"Just enough to know type of person you were." Naminé said nervously. "I had to be sure you wouldn't try to use Kingdom Hearts for yourself."

"Trust me, there are lot worst things I could have done."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is. You looked through my memories but not Vanitas's. I could have stolen the princess's heart and made an X-blade. Wouldn't have been too hard." For some reason when Jake said "X-blade" it came out as "keyblade." "That would benefit you as well. You'd get your own body, right."

Naminé looked away when he said this. "You know I still have darkness in my heart right." Jake nodded. Thanks to knowledge he had obtained from Vanitas he was fully aware that the seven princesses of heart were the only ones who could exist without darkness. "Kairi only has light in her heart. I'm sure you already realized how powerful her light is. When she and I became one again, I obtained a heart that had darkness inside of it. Because we share a body, I'm always within incredibly close proximity of her light. That light is slowly eating away at my darkness. In about a year there'll no darkness left."

"And when that happens you disappear right. In fact you'd probably become the opposite of a Heartless. A being blinded by light."

"I don't want that to happen, and neither does Kairi. I've been keeping it secret from her so she wouldn't worry. "

"But she found out. And then you ended up getting put in an imperial jail cell, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, all you can do is give destiny the finger and kick its ass." Jake said as he began to walk over to a hatch that led inside. Naminé smiled before disappearing into a golden light.

**Pieces**

Another hour and a half had gone by before the group reached Sera Castle. The castle was a massive construct with one tall crystal spire in the center and a multitude of smaller buildings surrounding it. The stone work was mostly a white with blue moldings decorating it.

Duffie had stayed within the airship to "Prevent any mishaps from occurring while they were gone." Truthfully he was just scared of the legendary ghosts that were said to walk the castle halls. As such, he simply dropped the others off and flew safely into orbit over the small planet.

"A thousand years old my ass." Felix said looking at the building. He had changed his outfit slightly to accommodate for the cooler temperature. His jacket now had a pair of rolled up sleeves zipped on and a black T-shirt underneath. Worc was now resting on his shoulder.

"It may not look like but this place is actually a bit older than a millennium." Simone said. "Actually, according to legend, a war was fought that led to its creation, with the intent of keeping something locked inside. Sera actually means lock."

"I don't think history has much of anything to do with why we're here." Jake walked to front of the group. "Let's just give the her to our client and leave. Something about this place doesn't feel right."

Kairi, or Umihana as she had going by for the past few days, felt the same way. The castle seemed to give her a feeling of hatred. More particularly it seemed to hate her. Also she had to wonder who the client was and they wanted her so badly. Black Phoenix had made an obvious effort to name no names which was understandable since what they did was illegal. But, she couldn't get it out of her head. Even more so than her jealousy over Simone's breasts being bigger than hers but that was something she could address later. All she could do was hope that she could find a way out.

While Kairi had been lost in thought the group had entered Sera Castle. "Suddenly, this place does seem like it's been around for a thousand years." Felix complimented. And he was right. The interior was covered in dust and cobwebs. The only light was from the planet's sun. It was wonder as to how plants and animals had not started to rule over the place in people's stead. Perhaps unlike humans, they were not able to ignore the foreboding feeling.

Surprisingly the place was structurally sound the stones still holding up after the millennium of lifelessness. Looking around, it seemed like Sera Castle was never even inhabited. There were no decorations; no sign of a ruling state. There was not even proof someone had stood there before. "This is strange." Simone said. "Even if it's been looted there should be some evidence of people living here. It looks like they built it and left. Other than our client and their men I can't feel anyone else here. And I can usually feel and see ghosts just fine."

"Los cobardes must've been too scared of what they were keeping locked up in here and high tailed it." Isabel said pulling out one of her pistols. "Must be one hell of a monster to put this kind of weight on top of it."

"You said it. There's a massive spell cast over the entire place." Jake eyes were now glowing. "Thanks to that I get a pretty decent map of the place. Damn, looks our client decided to go into deepest keep. Ain't she nice."

"So your client's a woman." Umihana said out of curiosity.

"I've probably said too much. Confidentiality. You know how it is. But when I really think it shouldn't matter to you should it." As the group started walking down a corridor deeper into the castle, Jake began looking around getting a better view of the castle. Normally Jake's eyes would be limited to seeking magic entities or piece users. However, the spell on the castle made it quite easy to map it out in his head. "That's strange. It looks the only Piece users are here with us."

"Boring." Felix drawled out. "Normal humans aren't fun to fight."

"We're not here to fight them, dumbass." Jake said. "Besides, they're not normal humans, they're l'cie."

"Wait I thought everyone in this world had a Piece." Umihana stated.

"Wow, if didn't know any better, I'd say you were from a different world or something." Simone said calmly. She was now sitting saddle side on her spear which had stream of purple flames spewing downward out of it like rocket. "Even though it doesn't seem that way, about twenty percent of the universe's human population can't use Pieces. Ten percent of that total is people like you, l'cie. Most humans can't withstand using magic do the strain it puts on their bodies. If Felix for example were to try using magic, he'd end up severally injuring himself. L'cie's bodies have adapted to accept the unique energy magic puts out. Because of that, l'cie are capable of using magic without any risk. Now then, eight is made of humans with no abilities whatsoever, plain and simple. Finally is the two percent, piece-l'cie hybrids."

"That two percent includes me and Isabel before ya ask." Jake said blatantly. "It's common knowledge really. I'm surprised anyone wouldn't know that. Especially considering you're a l'cie."

"What does me being a l'cie have to do with it?" Kairi asked.

"If you didn't know, l'cie and Piece users, more commonly known as Access, don't usually get along very well." Simone said. "For centuries now l'cie have been more or less oppressed by most Access. In fact, almost all intelligent species are considered below Piece using humans. Naturally, Faltia had a major hand in this." Simone was somewhat solemn when she said this. "Because of them, entire planets worth people have been wiped out. Resources, land, or money it's all that matters to the emperor. Of course how are we any different? There are quite few dead bodies created for our own gains. Quite a few souls have moved on to the next life. End the end we corpse climbers, which by the way is a generic term used by Faltia to lump anyone who defies its will together, are just the ones who refuse to except how fate has placed our cards and, are willing to do anything to change it. But, that's really off topic; isn't it?"

"I guess it is…" was all she said.

The group continued to walk through the musty corridor deeper into castle. Finally they came to a massive empty hall. The only thing of any interest at all was the sunlight that fell into the room. It was what was not there caught the group's attention. "Okay, where's the door?" Felix said.

"Great. The way the spell covers itself I can't tell the difference between walls and doors." Jake said looking around the empty room. "I'm sure that there are rooms right behind the walls, but I have no idea how to get to them."

"Maybe we missed something back at the entrance." Felix suggested. When he turned around a shudder went up his spine. Duffie's supposedly misplaced fears were beginning to seem like reality. A wall stood where the corridor should have been. "What the fuck…"

"I see now." Jake drew both his swords letting his eyes glow their eerie green color. "We've been played! Our 'client' is manipulating the spell!"

"Then let's bail. We've still got the girl. If there's no exit, we'll make one." Isabel began shooting the wall with her magically enhanced bullets. The force of her attack created a cloud of dust that shielding the epicenter from view. After few seconds the clear. "Alcance…" The ancient wall stood firm, as though the bullets had never connected.

"I can see her." Simone's voice was filled with anger. "She's laughing at us."

"Who cares what she's doing." The sound of Felix's knuckles popping filled the air. His left fist pressed against his right palm producing another popping sound. "She's a dead bitch now." That is when Felix began to notice he was getting shorter. Or that the room was getting bigger. When he looked down at his feet he found himself half up his shin in darkness. Felix reacted quickly throwing a vector up at the single window. The moment his magenta hand reached the opening it disappeared leaving Felix with nothing but a glowing hand. "Shit, nethicite." Felix murmured now up to his waist. "Any other ideas?"

"Stay calm and keep your guard up." Jake said as though nothing were wrong. "These are portals. Where ever they lead, we'll still be alive." As much as Felix hated giving in he knew there was not much he could here. Worc quickly took refuge in his hair before Felix disappeared into the darkness.

**Pieces**

Simone was totally blinded. Her eyes were restricted by the darkness preventing her from seeing anything around her. Slowly, things began to clear. Black gave way to worn out and dull white. Her head spun around few a seconds before she obtain a solid vision of surrounding.

Before she even bothered to figure out her own location, Simone sent her limbs and hair ablaze. She gripped her spear and ignited the blade into a bright, purple flame. She pivoted on her right leg and as she did the blade left a trail of fire behind. The fire disappeared leaving frozen air in its place. The ice was in the shape of a curved double-edged blade and was attached to the side of the spear's blade.

Upon turning around, Simone saw her would-be assailant. The entirety of his body except his head was draped in black. A large black coat, black gloves and black boots made up his ensemble. His black hair was braided into dreadlocks tied into a pony tail that fell onto his back. Four thinner dreads protruded out from his head. Thick side burns went down to his jaw then curved back up to his cheek bones. Three purple and blue lances with dragon-like heads floated in the air behind him. Two more rested in his right hand, another in his left.

"Quick to judge, aren't we?" He said.

"Really, I would be willing to negotiate with you." Simone swung the scythe upward allowing it to rest in her shoulder with the blade pointing upward. Compared to it she was quite small. "However, if I hadn't turned around you would've tried and I do mean 'tried' to scour me."

"Come now, a girl appearing out of a blob of darkness. Anyone would be a bit defensive."

"Don't bullshit me. It's obviously your lying. So what do you want? I have things to care of, people to see, books to read. More importantly I'm interested in what made the people abandon this castle. As you can see I really don't feel like dealing with you. So what do you want so I can go?"

"Don't play dumb with me." The man said, "You know damn well why I'm here. Tell me where Princess Kairi is and I won't kill you."

"So her name's Kairi. If you consider her name and that weapon, it's no wonder where she came up with 'Umihana.' However, seeing as you aren't our client, we have no reason hand her over do we? Of course the real client did break the contract, so she's dead too. Basically if Umi- I mean Kairi survives you can do whatever you like with her."

"What do you mean 'survive'." His voice showed anger in it.

"I mean what I said. Our client has her own agenda that includes not paying us. Put simply the first winner of the fights that are beginning right now could decide our fair princess's fate. Black Phoenix doesn't want to kill her, but we're in no rush to save her either."

"I am Dilan, former guard and apprentice of Ansem the Wise. To atone for my sins against him and our home, Radiant Garden, I _will _protect her highness." Dilan began to rise off the ground with three of his lances spinning around him. Simone could feel the gusts of wind he was creating to keep himself aloft. "You Black Phoenix brats are too dangerous to be ignored. Who knows what you'll do if left alone."

"I could say same about you. I've never met you before, and I don't know anything about this Radiant Garden place. How do I know you're not out to kill us, could care less about Umihana, and only need her alive for your own ends." Simone tightened her grip on her scythe. "Dilan, apprentice of Ansem the Wise, I'm Simone Boneau, historian and grim reaper. I'm going to make this clear. If you take one step further, I won't hold anything back. I will kill you and send your spirit to the afterlife."

"Those are bold words coming from a young child. The person who ended my second existence was older than you. However, even he didn't actually say he would kill me."

"Don't think you can distract me with head games."

"Head games? I speak the truth. Unfortunately, you won't be around long enough to understand. Now than…" Dilan's lances rotated faster, the speed causing them to blur. "Taste the winds of despair!"

Dilan lunged at Simone incredible speeds thrusting the lances in his hands straight forward. Simone side stepped gripping the scythe with both hands and letting it scrape against Dilan's lances. The friction created sparks between the weapons. She released the grip of her left hand brought the scythe into an upward arch barely missing Dilan's sideburns. Dilan flew past Simone and began to ascend with the intent of dropping down to impale her. However, before he reached a decent height, he felt a tugging on his ankle. He looked down and saw a chain of ice around it and a dagger hanging off of it. "Do honestly think you can pull me down?" Dilan sneered mocking Simone. He immediately increased the force with which he pushed himself into the air, but the chain held firm.

"Of course not." Simone let go of the chain and sent Dilan higher into the air. Before he slammed into the ceiling, Dilan flipped over and jumped downward. He let all of his lances drop below him headed straight down. Simone hopped onto her scythe and sent a jet of flames from the metal blade propelling herself away from the lances drop zone. "_Ardente murum__!_" she said as Dilan flew into the spot she stood a second ago. Brilliant purple flames hid his body from view as Simone picked up her dagger.

The flames stop burning after a period of a few seconds. When Simone turned around Dilan was incased in a block of ice that was cracking apart. Before long, Dilan was free; though the damage had been done. He wobbled around a little before falling onto one knee. His breaths were strained, ragged and his body shivered with the cold. "Wh-what did you d-do to me."

"What do you think I did?" Simone created a chain that connected her scythe and dagger. "My 'Touching Release' Piece allows me to force heat energy out of inorganic matter. You flew right into the range of my attack and ended up getting hit with the heat the floor contained. Then I froze the air around you and put you in block of frozen oxygen. The effects it has on air are increased thanks to the fact that most people wear clothes. Actually, I'm pretty surprised such a simple strategy worked. Most people jump out the flames almost instantly. Still, those clothes must be pretty durable though. Most material becomes incredibly brittle at temperatures that low. But, that's really off topic; isn't it?"

"A truly dangerous ability." Dilan was now back in the air. "Don't think you'll win that easily."

"Who said I did? I you told that I'm a grim reaper. I can tell from one look at you that your soul has experienced something close to death. Almost like a part of you died then came back."

"Do honestly think I believe _you_ are the grim reaper, the harvester souls, who comes in a black robe and takes people to the afterlife."

"I blame media for that misconception, them and the idiot who thought it would be funny to wear a skull in front of pre-Vatican writers." Simone said with annoyance in her voice. "And I said 'a grim reaper' not 'the grim reaper.' Do you know how big the Realm of Dawn alone is? If it were all up to me to get spirits to the afterlife, the world would be filled with lingering spirits seeing as I never do my job. However, lately our numbers have dwindled thanks to the emperor. Lots of people think that the best way to live is to never die. So how else can one do that than to eliminate death itself? But that's really off topic; isn't it?" Simone simply looked at Dilan at this point and smiled.

"You could be Hades himself and still not be able to stop me." Dilan's resolve remained unshaken.

"Actually, I'm not that big a fan of Hades." Simone gripped her ice scythe and dagger in her right and left hands respectively. "He's the Greek gods of the underworld. Seeing as the underworld doesn't exist saying that is pointless."

**Pieces**

As Simone started to Dilan, fights were taking place throughout Sera Castle. However, the other members of Black Phoenix were not having as easy of a time as she was. Jake's body and clothes had cuts and nicks in various places. His black blade, Yozora no Kage, rested on his right shoulder, and his white blade, Gekkō no Kage, hung at his left side. Scattered around him were kunai knives some of which were stained red with blood.

Jake's eyes were cautiously shifting around his surroundings. He could see something moving. A step, a blur, something was there, and it was too fast him to see what it was. For what felt like hours, he stood there watching. Then, a flash appeared from the corner of his eye. Jake ducked back planting his swords into ground. After the kunai cleared him, he pushed himself into the air and balanced himself upside down by the hilts of his swords. Dark energy outlined the length of his right leg before it became a thick bladed shell. Jake's body began to slack into its bent backwards position. About half way to the ground, he thrust himself into the air sending a black sword slash into the wall he was facing.

The resulting impact created a cloud dust and knocked Jake's opponent into the air. A black haired and purple eyed girl landed deftly on the ground in front of Jake onto her khaki colored boots. Her torso was mostly covered by a black tank top with Hawaiian flower prints and a sleeveless, grey vest. Her right arm had a white wrist band on it whereas her left arm had a black fabric that wrapped around her forearm. Across her forehead was a black headband, "Are you trying to kill me or something!" She screamed.

Jake pulled his swords from the ground and put the black blade on his shoulder before blatantly answering, "Yes."

The girl put her hand on her hips and put on a scheming smile. "Fine, then. But I'll let you know, the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi won't hold back against because you're a kid."

"Like your one to talk. How old are you, sixteen?" Jake said shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll have you know I turned eighteen couple months ago."

"Whatever, how old you are doesn't mean a damn thing in fighting anyway, oh great ninja."

"So are saying you can beat me or not."

"Who knows? I'm guessing I've only seen one or two your tricks and I've only revealed one of mine." Jake restored the dark blade to his leg. "I have no idea which one of us is stronger."

"Well then I guess we get to find out." Yuffie was now brandishing a large four pointed weapon with cross-bar connecting the blades. "Or you can play nice tell me where Princess Kairi is."

"Red, that's what you're for? You're from Radiant Garden aren't you?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"If that's what you wanted why didn't you say so?"

"Easy, because anyone could feel darkness coming from you. Why should I hold back against the power that destroyed my home?"

"That's what this is about? I had nothing to do with that." Jake shook his head in annoyance. "The asshole in me was involved, but again he's not me, is he?" He walked over to the hallway that connected to the room they were in. "If you wanna help your princess so badly follow me. If things keep going this way, she'll dead by the time one of us ends up killing the other." Jake walked down the hall as though nothing had happened.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"I told you to follow me; didn't I?" He said without turning around. Yuffie looked down the dank corridor and followed without a second thought.

After less than two minutes of walking and one turn down the hall Yuffie had grown impatient with the pace. "Say, when are getting there, and can't you go any faster." Jake did not answer. He saw no reason to reply to the question. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"I'm not ignoring you." Jake said while sheathing his swords. "I'm not answering the questions because I don't have an answer. Seeing as don't have an answer it would be pointless to answer. Get it?"

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"I don't know."

"You're weird, you know that."

" 'Cause you aren't. What kind of ninja goes around announcing themselves as 'The Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi.' Kinda defeats the purpose of stealth, doesn't it?"

"Oh please. What kinda name is 'Six Blade' anyway? I only see two, four if you count those legs of yours." Yuffie prodded "So where are they, Mr. Dreadlock Samurai?"

"I'd show you right now. However, then I'd playing right into our double-crossing clients hands. Of course as a ninja, you should be able to find that out with ease."

"If you're so smart, what is your 'client's' plan anyway?"

"Dunno. But, much of this building was constructed with nethicite, a stone that can absorb PT waves and magical energy output. Part of the spell on this place was to hide the absorption preventing me from realizing there was so much nethicite here." Jake put his hands close to the wall and sent some darkness through them. Sure enough, the energy flowed into wall, sucked up by the nethicite. "A thousand years have passed since this place was built. That's a thousand years worth of power being pent up. If it were all released the seal locking whatever is being kept inside here, would be broken by the shear force, something even my Piece, Cancel, can't do."

"So basically the more we fight the more energy the nethicite gets. And if it gets too much energy whatever is sealed inside how gets to go free. Right?"

"That's my theory in a nut shell." Jake said returning to his pace. "But it's just a theory. She could be planning to absorb all the energy into herself for all we know. Of course no human, l'cie or otherwise, could withstand that type of pressure and would explode into a dazzling display of death and be completely wiped from this plane of existence. Of course, anything within proximity, that being us, would die too. Either way, it's no good for us."

"Say you know about Maleficent, right?" Yuffie inquired.

"Hmm, if memory serves me right, she's an old witch who manipulates darkness right."

"Yeah, well me and my partner Squa-" For some reason she stopped herself from saying the name, "I mean Leon have looking into her evil plots lately and think she might have something to do with this."

"She's manipulative, power hungry, and a user of darkness like me. Wouldn't surprise me if she were involved."

"So I guessing you'd join her if she you gave the choice."

Jake came to a complete stop. He turned around to face Yuffie with a huge grin on his face. A chuckle escaped his lips before turning a deep fit of laughter. He stood there laughing for at least a minute before he could speak again. "Are you kidding me?" He said in between chuckles. "I'd rather die than be a servant of some old hag! At least I know the grim reaper would be nice to my soul. Thanks for the laughs, though." Jake resumed walking down the halls, leaving Yuffie somewhere between perplexed and relieved.

**Pieces**

Unlike Jake, Felix found it next to impossible to be nice to someone who pointed weapons at him. He was being shot at by a brown haired man in his mid twenties with a scar sweeping over his nose. The black jacket he wore over his white shirt had a fur collar and red lion like insignias on the shoulder. Three brown belts hung loosely around his waist while a black one held up his black pants with zippers down the side. His gloved hands held his weapon the gunblade, "Revolver."

"_Vector Fist!_" Felix threw a magenta energy fist at Leon, but the attack was easily avoided.

Another bullet flew at Felix before he could retract the arm. He dodged by ducking thus allowing it to pass harmlessly through his spiky hair. "What the hell! I still live here, caw!" Worc shouted as he popped out.

"I made sure it missed." Felix said while brushing his hair back into its apparently not random place.

"It destroyed my TV!" Worc announced flying in his owners face.

"When the fuck did you get a TV!" Felix wanted to know what else was in his hair.

"None of your damn business, caw!"

"It's my hair you're livin' in! I think I have the right to know what's in it!"

The boy and his bird were now literally butting heads pushing against each other for supremacy. "_Blasting Zone!_" came from Leon triggering them to look up. All they saw was a flash of bright energy before they were knocked flying into the air.

The hard wall knocked the wind out of Felix before he fell onto the ground. Felix quickly pulled himself up at looked at Leon. "Come on, that was a cheap shot." Felix complained.

"It own fault letting your guard down." Leon pointed his gunblade at Felix, leveling it with his opponent's eyes. "You're the infamous 'Crow.' I'm happily disappointed. It should be easy to make you tell me where Kairi is."

"Kairi? Who the hell is that?" Felix asked in genuine confusion. "Oh, you're here for Umihana aren't you?" He realized. "Well, what the fuck ever, but that girl has caught my interest. That Keyblade is a pretty interesting weapon. After I kill my idiotic client, I'm gonna find were this bread trail leads. Backing down because of a minor setback just ain't in me."

"Maybe I didn't make this clear. Give her to me and no one gets hurt." The words Sora wanted to deliver so badly were stated here by Leon.

"Keep dreamin'." Felix said putting up the middle finger. This prompted Leon to pull the trigger on his gunblade. Felix's bracers blocked the bullet with ease. Magenta then enveloped his hands. Felix raised his right hand perpendicular to his torso and motioned it as though he were beginning to crumple up a piece of paper. He stepped forward preparing to throw his "paper." Another shot was fired as Felix's arm swept in an arch generating a massive gust of wind. The bullet, though not stopped, lost most of its momentum in the gale causing it to fall to the floor before reaching its target.

Leon was blown off the ground and into the air. He hit the floor hard but was able to return to his feet quickly enough to see and avoid Felix's punch. At this range it was obvious that Leon out sized Felix. However, this size difference did not prevent Felix from landing a left hook across Leon's scarred face. The power from this blow forced Leon to take a few steps back. Leon was astounded by Felix's superhuman strength. In theory the size and age differences should have made Leon physically superior. He learned once again that theory is not always fact. "_The power behind his punches, it's even greater than hers._" He thought wiping some blood from his mouth

"You'd better keep your head out your ass!" Felix's fist came downward hitting floor where Leon had stood half a second ago. The force from the blow created a small crater in the floor. "Guess the floor ain't as sturdy as the walls." Felix said as he brushed some ruble off of his hand.

Felix looked up to see Leon in the air above him. His gunblade was glowing with a radiant light. "_Fated Circle!_" Leon spun a full three hundred sixty degrees to launch the energy in a large shock wave.

"Ah…" Felix had nowhere to run, "Shit." The shock ripped into the ground sending pieces of the floor in all known directions. A diagonal cloud of dust covered most of the room. However, nothing was more obscured from view than the epicenter of the blast where Felix once stood. The small crater he had created was absorbed into a large gash in the floor.

Leon landed on his feet scanning the area for his opponent. All he saw were chunks of the floor lying in random positions. He was fairly sure Felix was not dead. But he could not be sure if he were still conscious or not. After a moment of silence, Leon decided that he was victorious. No sooner had he made that decision than the vectors came around and wrapped around his body. Leon's arms were pressed against his torso, preventing any resistance. Despite his struggles, there was nothing Leon could do against the vectors and found himself hoisted into the air. "_Vector Lotus_" was all Leon heard before he went head first into the ground.

For a moment, everything went black and silent. Leon could only wonder how he could have let this happen. Upon regaining consciousness Leon, as he had expected, found an injured Felix ready for round two and an extremely painful headache. Felix had obviously been hit directly by Leon's attack. Fresh wounds were noticeable on his body particularly a gash on the side of his head letting a streak of blood flow onto his face. "Not bad." Felix said, "Most people panic and tense their bodies up in fear. But instead you relaxed the muscles of yours and caused the force distribute more evenly to reduce the damage. If you hadn't I'm pretty damn sure you'd have broken your neck."

"I'm sure of it." Leon said standing his aching body back up, "I've seen that technique before. Now I know you're involved in this. I don't why you would join up with Maleficent, but I won't let you use Kairi to gain Kingdom Hearts. I refuse to allow my home to be destroyed a second time because I wasn't strong enough to beat some kid."

"Kingdom Hearts? Maleficent? Dude, I have no idea what you're talkin' about. In fact I'm beginning to think that you're just some nutcase with a kick ass weapon. But I honestly could care less about who ya are or what ya want."

"I see. Honestly I could care less whose side you're on. I'll be damned if those nobles think they just come back and treat the people like dirt then not even prepare for a battle they know is coming."

"Well if you're worried about the people, then stop bitchin' at me and go bug those nobles." Felix put his dukes back up. "That is if you can get passed me. Access versus l'cie, who's gonna win I wonder."

**Pieces**

"Cobarde." Isabel watched the large, white beings in front of her attack again with little concern. All of them had oversized hands and feet with a hammer to match. One of them took swipe at Isabel's head which she lightly dodged and landed on the side of the elongated hammer. From this position she blew two of their heads off with little effort. Both of them collapsed and disappeared into a shimmer of light. "So, these things are Nobodies huh." Isabel muttered before she jumped off the hammer and into the air.

In the air she deftly shot even more of them down before she found who she was looking for. A man with long blue hair and an x shaped scar on his face stood with his own claymore in hand. He wore the same black cloak and boot set as Dilan. Isabel took a few shots at him but, they were easily deflected. Isabel landed gracefully and held both pistols at the man who earlier introduced himself as Isa.

"What a feisty girl you are. But aren't we a little young to be carrying around those guns?" He said showing as little emotion as Shizuko. "Perhaps talking would be beneficial to both of us. After all we do have a common enemy."

"Not interested." Isabel had actually been the first to fire. Her hot head had been more than the occasional cause of problems for Black Phoenix. Of course, after being sucked into a portal, she had little interest in making friends at the moment. "Maybe if you tell me where my friends are, I won't blow your head off."

"I suppose there's no use talking to you." Isa said. Isabel moved her fingers to pull the triggers at the same moment as Isa snapped his fingers. Her shots were fired. However, just as the bullets left the barrel a hammer from one of the Nobodies connected with her head. At that moment all Isabel could feel was her body increase in momentum and the blood escaping her head.

She crashed hard into the wall, surely breaking a few ribs. Her grip on her pistols unconsciously remained. Isabel regained consciousness within seconds but lay on the ground motionless to allow her wounds some time to heal. When she looked back up she was surrounded by Nobodies.

Forcing her body back up, Isabel wiped the blood off her face and onto her sleeves choosing to ignore fashion. She had long admitted to herself that she was a dike and pretty damn proud of it. So much so that she could live in the same house with two teenage boys and still feel comfortable.

Holding both pistols perpendicular to her body, Isabel unleashed multiple spell enhanced bullets on the force in front of her. Fire, wind, ice, lighting, and more were used in her attacks. She gingerly dodged the hammers of the Nobodies and took advantage of the huge openings they left when swung. Unlike the walls, which remained perfectly intact, the floors were torn apart the by force of the Berserkers attacks. Isabel used some of ruble for cover as she reloaded her pistols. "_I'm not about to drive for these motherfuckers._" She crudely thought as the empty cartridges dropped to the floor. "_I'll let el puta see that._"

With her bullets reloaded she arose from the ruble and begin yet another of her infamous shooting sprees.

**Pieces**

Kairi was lying on the ground her body cut up and bruised. Destiny's Embrace was loosely in her right hand. A small amount of blood poured from the left side of her mouth. Rayn stood on the other of the room. In her left hand was, to Kairi a great shock upon her first sight, a Keyblade. Hers had a black hilt with raven feathers around it. The shaft was a thick blade colored dark gray at the back and slowly shifting into a dark blue. The "teeth" of the weapon consisted of two horns similar to Maleficent. Its chain had a drop of falling rain attached to it. The Keyblade's name was "Servant of the Rain."

Rayn smiled at the crumpled pile that was the princess of Radiant Garden. "Did you really you could hide yourself just by changing your name or, are you just running away from your past? Either way, you're doing a pretty shitty job of it."

Kairi pulled herself off the ground raised her Keyblade in preparation for another attack. "It's the first one." She answered honestly. "I'm trying to find something and I can't rely on Sora to help me with it. Even though I told him not to, I can feel it. He's spent every day and night since then looking for me. And I know he's doing the same right now." He was doing something like that. "But even though I haven't found it, I found out recently that I have to return to Radiant Garden. Unfortunately for you, dying here isn't an option."

"Let me guess, you're worried about precious little Naminé?" Kairi gasped. How could Rayn have known? "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, although I am one if I do say so myself. Even though Naminé is your Nobody she isn't you. She can't exist without darkness just like I can't exist without light. And the minute she runs out, it's game over. I can tell by the pathetic look your face that I'm right. Wait until Lady Maleficent hears about this."

"_Kairi, don't let her rattle you._" Naminé advised. "_You need to escape even if you have to do something that will accelerate the erosion._"

"_But Naminé, what if you…_"

"_There's a year left, Kairi. The most you could take off is a week. You don't have to win. You just have to get away._"

"No, I won't." Kairi's Keyblade lit ablaze with red hot flames. "I won't let you disappear!" She charged forward raising her keyblade high into the air. "_Island Fire!_" Destiny's Embrace collided with Servant of the Rain creating a small field of heat.

For a moment it seemed like a stalemate. Neither side budged making it appear as though they were equally matched. However, this was Kairi's assumption based on the instant. With a mere flick of the wrist, Destiny's Embrace was sent flying out of its owner's hands and onto the floor. Rayn's right fist pressed into Kairi's stomach and sent a wave of darkness through her body. Kairi clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain. A foot landed against her skull sending it into the stone floor. "Boring."

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Sazh Katzroy_

_Age: 40_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Katzroy Rest Stop and Aerodrome-owner_

_Weapon: Vega 42's_

* * *

_Name: Dajh Katzroy_

_Age: 6_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Katzroy Rest Stop and Aerodrome-heir_

_Weapon: none_

* * *

_Name: Dilan_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness(wind element affinity)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-castle guard (former)_

_Weapon: Lindworm_

* * *

_Name: Yuffie Kisaragi_

_Age: 18_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-restoration committee-intelligence gathering_

_Weapon: 4-point shuriken_

* * *

_Name: Squall Leonhart "Leon"_

_Age: 26_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-restoration committee-leader_

_Weapon: Revolver_

* * *

_Name: Isa_

_Age: 25_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: Lunatic_

**Update**

_Name: Simone Boneau "Icy Flames"_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-"Touching Release"_

_Imperial Bounty: 180,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-historian/grim reaper_

_Weapon: scythe_

* * *

_Name: Kairi /Umihana "Flowering Key"_

_Age: 16_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: 10,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-princess _

_Weapon: Keyblade_

* * *

_**Well that's that. Duffie how dare you not even appear in this chapter. **__**You know the drill. Review. Or Black Phoenix will be making a few deliveries.**_

_**Anyway See Ya**_


	6. Snowflakes and Vectors

_**Crap! It's been two months since I last updated. For those who give two shits, I've been busy at school working on Phantom of the Opera. Stage crew has just as hard a job as the actors; trust me. Anyway, enjoy.**_

* * *

"**Snowflakes and Vectors"**

Duffie stood alone outside of Sera Castle. At least an hour had gone by since his friends had been dropped off and, the blond had not received word from them. Upon looking into the matter, Duffie found that he had no way of contacting them from the outside whatever. Something was jamming the signals to their cell phones, preventing him from reaching them.

"It's probably just something about the materials this old place was made from." Duffie suggested to himself. "They're probably just chatting with the client, knowing them. I should probably get the ship ready to go home." Duffie was about to turn around but his conscience stopped him, "Oh, but what if actually they're in danger and fighting for their lives. They would want my help. But they probably wouldn't need it. I mean, with how strong they are it would take half of Faltia's entire military to stop them." He knew he was exaggerating. "Still maybe I should check."

"Excuse me." A female said from behind. Duffie slowly turned around to face what he believed to be his nightmares come true. A young woman in a pink dress and short maroon jacket over stood smiling. Brown curls framed her green eyed face while a large braid went down her back. Her hair was accented by a pink bow tied to the braid. "Are you alright?"

Duffie stared like a deer in headlights before screaming, "Holy crap, a ghost" He transformed into his fox form and hid in a nearby bush.

The woman crouched down and peered into the bush retaining her smile. Through the leaves, she could see Duffie's big bushy tail covering his head. "Don't worry. I'm not a ghost." She said while moving Duffie's tail to see his face. "See. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm Aerith Gainsboruogh. What's your name?"

Duffie came out the bush and went into a mostly human form retaining features such as his tail, ears, whiskers and claws albeit the claws were hidden under his sleeves. "Um, it's Duffie Barret." He said nervously. "So why are you here?"

"Actually, we came here to help a friend of ours." She replied. "The two that came with me said they could handle it so I stood guard over the ship. However, it's been a while. I stated to get worried so I came down here myself. And you?"

"Almost the same thing. Our group is something of a delivery service. The members that came with me went inside to drop off the package, but I lost contact with them out of nowhere. Why anyone would choose _this _placeas the drop off point is beyond me."

"Really, I have a friend who does something like that." Aerith said. Her finger tips were now pressed together at the level of her chest. "At any rate, we should go inside. If our friends are in danger it's only right that we help, isn't it."

"Um, sure…"

**Pieces**

Rayn stood with her foot on Kairi's face. "My, it looks like someone else wants in on the party."

"What are you talking about?" Kairi grunted as she tried to push herself from underneath Rayn's foot.

"Let's see here." Rayn lifted her foot to deliver a kick to the princess's stomach. She rolled back a few feet then got back onto her feet. In a flash Destiny's Embrace returned to her hands. "That guy Duffie decided he wanted to be a hero. Oh, and is that Aerith?" Rayn could see what happening at the gates through the reflection of her keyblade. "Well, I like to be a courteous host, but there's no room left inside. Guess I'll just let them play with my pet."

"You mean your Heartless." Kairi spat.

"Not quite. It is technically a Heartless but, it has that Rayn twist on it that makes it mine."

"And what's that supposed mean?"

Rayn laughed at Kairi and turned back to her keyblade. "Oh Knightshaker, snack time." She sang.

**Pieces**

Duffie and Aerith stood with their backs facing the castle as three large black portals swirled in the air above them. A second earlier the portals appeared before them with gust of black wind. The center one was larger than the other two and, because of that Duffie was even more scared of what would come out of it.

From the side portals came two massive sets of red claws attached to blue hands. Two large stone rings covered in glyphs were where the wrists would be. Behind them came large tubes of darkness each with two stone rings. One was at the center and the other at the very end. Out of the middle one was a grey stone. The stone was hollow on the inside and had four holes: two on the sides, one at the top, and a larger one at the bottom that revealed an inky black orb.

From the orb, darkness permeated throughout the stone's cavity. The two arms came to side holes connecting from the topmost rings. From the top hole, an elongated skull appeared attached to a black neck. Two large fangs protruded from the lower jaw. Its eyes glowed an eerie yellow light. From the bottom hole came a massive black tail that connected to the ground. Across the stone which covered the being's chest a heart like shape appeared. It was black with red outline and an x shape going the center.

The beast looked down at on its meal. In size comparison Duffie and Aerith barely fit the description of a morsel to the gargantuan bone-crushing beasty before them. Duffie considered it impossible to even be noticed. Unfortunately, it was not there to eat their bodies; it was there for their hearts. "Sweet mother of Yevon…" Duffie stuttered. He tried to take a step back towards the castle but ended up tripping over his own feet. "It's just like Umihana said. This thing is a Heartless?"

"Yes it is." Aerith said sternly. "I'm sure you realize it's a dangerous creature. Defeating it won't be easy, especially considering how big it is."

"'Defeating it…' We should be trying to get to get away it! There's no way we can fight that thing and win!" Duffie scrambled onto his feet turned towards the castle. He rolled up his oversized sleeves to reveal his clawed hands before jumping onto all fours and running to the castle. He stopped and turned around when one of the gargantuan hands came down in front of him. "Shit…"

"Sorry, but you can't come in right now." Rayn's smiling face appeared on the Heartless emblem like a television screen. "You see, we've reached maximum occupancy in here and, even I have some respect for the law. However, I'd be devastated if you were just left outside in chilly air. So I'll let you play with Knightshaker here so you won't be bored. How does that sound to you?" Her voice rang with an evil sarcasm that made Duffie shudder in fear.

"Wait a minute, you're the one who told us Black Phoenix would be bringing Kairi here, aren't you." Aerith said.

"What? She's our client. Why would she want someone to fight over her? Wouldn't that be too risky?"

"Both of you are correct. However, we have our plans to complete. See, your friends are doing our work for us meaning I can sit back relax. Or, I could have fun with your precious princess." Rayn was about to return to whatever business she had but looked back and said, "Oh, could you at least try not to die too quickly. Knightshaker is in the prototype phase and, I want see where its limits are right now. Bye."

Rayn's face was replaced by the Heartless emblem. It looked down on them obeying its master's order with no hesitation. Extract and devour their hearts to create new Heartless. It raised its right hands above it and slammed it into the ground. Duffie and Aerith both managed to jump out of the way as the red claws dug into the earth. A loud beep came from the claw. A second later a powerful explosion engulfed the claw in crimson flames. The Knightshaker pulled its hand back from the fire. The damage was minimal only causing slight charring. "Come on, that had to do more than that." Duffie whined starring at the claw.

Another attack came down. This time, instead of running towards the castle, Duffie moved forward ending up behind the monster's wrist. Having seen his movement, the Knightshaker brought a fist down. This fist began rotating at high speeds prompting Duffie to even faster. Once again all it hit was a bomb. Both of its hands were on fire but, Duffie had known it did not do as much damage as he would want thus had other things on his mind. "_Shit, that thing's arms can move like that. I got to stop its movements, then make a break for the castle._" Duffie dropped ten of his marble sized bombed into his hands. He gave them toss towards the base of the Heartless' tail making sure to hit his target in the best way possible.

The ten orbs went off with a bang, the tail turning crimson. Aerith stood and watched intently with her metal staff-like weapon drawn. She expected Duffie's attack to do little if anything but, she was wrong. The beast wavered, falling onto its hands for support. Duffie having jumped off the stone wrist into air returned to his fully human form. He rolled his left sleeve up and gripped his arm. A red circular light appeared on it. "_Fox Breaker._" He said as red sphere launched towards the Heartless' head. The blast created a red dome of energy the covering and dyed the beast's skull.

Duffie landed on all fours and stood back up next to Aerith. He grabbed her by the arm turning towards the castle. "C'mon, we've got to go. Believe me, unless you're a total weakling, that attack isn't as strong as it looks." Duffie said pointing out his own weakness.

"Running won't help." Aerith said. "There will probably be even more Heartless inside waiting for."

"That's better than trying to take on one big, scary, gigantic one. Besides, I know for a fact that there are at least six people inside who're stronger us, four of which are on my side and could probably learn how to control the Heartless. If I had to guess they killed most them already. I mean there's no way Felix and the others would go down that easily."

Aerith weighed the situation carefully. It was obvious Duffie's attacks were only stunning the creature at best. She was also sure that Yuffie and Leon could any Heartless they faced. What concerned her was Rayn. That girl was after something. But why would she lead her enemies straight to it? It may have been a trap to eliminate them. That did not make any sense. Why go through this much trouble to rid of three people?

While Aerith let her thoughts wonder Duffie pulled her along towards Sera Castle. Behind them the Knightshaker recovered and began to pursue them. The base of its long tail was slithering across the ground granting it movement. "Ah, come on…" Duffie whined at the creature's recovery time.

"What was in that bomb anyway?" Aerith asked quizzically. She had never seen a Heartless simply drop down to its hands and knees like that.

"Actually the explosion was just a cover up." Duffie began to explain. "The real effect is that releases an energy wavelength I created to interfere with magical energy. I created to keep Isabel from killing me back when we first met, but it's had other uses."

The ground below Duffie and Aerith become darker and the claw of the beast loomed over them. Duffie re-grew his tail and other fox features jumped into the air with Aerith in one hand. Though they avoided the first claw, the Knightshaker still had another one reeled back for a punch. In the air like that, there was no way for them to change direction. All they saw was flash of light and the sound of cracking glass before everything went black.

**Pieces**

Simone clutched her bleeding side with her left hand. The wound was not deep, but it was much more painful than it should have been. It burned, attacking her with seething pain that coursed through the midriff of her body. All of her wounds had the same effect searing her body in a prolonged pain.

Finally the pain subsided, and Simone prepared for Dilan's next attack. His lances thrust at her backed up by the powerful wind that Dilan had been creating. Simone caught three mouths of the dragon heads with her scythe by keeping it horizontally perpendicular with the lances. She avoided two by sidestepping to left and deflected the sixth with her dagger. Before Dilan could pull back Simone's left heel connected to his jaw leaving a trail of flame in its path. As she kicked, her scythe twisted around sending three Lindworms into different directions. She swung upward diagonally then quickly made an opposite direction slash creating a flame X. "_Decima zero._" she said as the X froze against Dilan's body which was bent to the side from Simone's kick. Simone finished her combo by delivering a dropkick that shattered the frozen oxygen and sent Dilan across the room.

"Well, I hope that's not all you've got." Simone said raising her scythe in diagonal position. From behind all six of the Lindworms flew at her torso but an Ardente murum went off and froze them in place with the heads inside the ice. The front part of the wall fell apart and returned to the air leaving a semi-circle of oxygen for Simone to lean on. "Don't think I forgot about these." She said tapping the ice with her dagger. "Still I have to admit, you're not an ordinary opponent. Even among l'cie it's rare to someone using a magically enhanced weapon. The fact that I've seen yours and one that's only been spoken of in legends in one day makes it even better. Now, how'd that story go again?" Simone tapped her chin in thought.

"All the worlds were joined together as one." Dilan began. "All of that world and the people within were filled light. However, people began to fight over that light and from that, darkness was born. The darkness corrupted and destroyed our world shattering it. However, the light remained within the hearts of the children. From this light, new worlds were born and kept separated from each other as to prevent another catastrophe from occurring. Was that the legend you were referring to."

"Not quite. No, as a matter of fact that isn't even close to the story I remember. The legend I heard went like this. The world did exist; however, it wasn't as benevolent as you would make it out to be. It had thieves, villains and the sort of bad stuff that exist in the world. Now that I think about, what made you believe that utopia stuff anyway? In my opinion no such perfect world can ever be achieved as long as people are different. It's like snow. No matter how smooth and uniform it seems on the surface, each flake is different. The same could be said about twins. Hell, the snowflake principle even states that it's impossible for two people to have the same Piece. But, that's really off topic; isn't it?" Dilan looked at her for moment. Despite her apparent intelligence Simone had thrice now completely wandered away in the middle of a conversation. "Anyway, one day a visitor from the world of darkness came. Naturally the light world's nobility had a freak out session. Upon, realizing that an outsider had arrived they ordered him killed for fear of their world falling into what they considered evil: the darkness. In retaliation, the dark world sent warriors wielding keyblades seeking retribution for the death. However, the king of the world of light sent his own keyblade wielders. Long story short a war that left both worlds ravaged took place. During the war both sides took the sources of their power and placed them into female nobility: seven for darkness; seven for light. They became known as the princesses of heart.

After years of fighting, one decisive battle occurred. I could go into the bloody details, but the bottom line is that darkness lost. That didn't matter, however. The energy created from the battle formed an entity so powerful that it destroyed both worlds. Again I'm omitting details but, the dreams of children to see peace created smaller worlds in the rifts that were created from the destruction of the two worlds. They are known as the realms of light and darkness. But as far as I know that's just legend. There are historical accounts of two l'cie planets engaging in an apocalyptic war, but I've heard nothing of the princesses of heart. Sure the fact that there's such a thing as Heartless and Nobodies helps support it, but there's nothing conclusive that's been found."

Dilan stood up. The look in his eye showed more annoyance than anything. "What a long winded girl you are." Simone shrugged her shoulders at this. She could have talked for hours on the subject if she really wanted to. "However, your carelessness has lead to your death."

Simone looked up to see all of Dilan's lances floating above her. She smiled and looked back at Dilan. "Really, who's the one who's careless?" The Lindworms dropped down towards her resting position on the oxygen. The wall literally evaporated against her body allowing her to escape harm. "Did really think I hadn't noticed when those lances materialized above me? One of first rules of combat is to never underestimate your opponent. I may be young, but I have far more combat experience than most of Faltia's soldiers."

"I suppose so." Dilan sneered. "Unfortunately, my time for playing games has been spent. Don't worry. Your death will be swift." The Lindworms circled around him even faster than before. They were almost blurs to the naked eye.

"I see." Simone said returning her knife to her sleeve. The chain connecting it the scythe evaporated. "It's about time you started taking this fight seriously. Those lances of yours are troublesome, but pretty sure I can beat them."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is." Around Simone's body began to appear multi colored lights with long tails following them. They got closer to her surrounding her body in an eerie, fluorescent light. The sleeves of her jacket disappeared revealing more white markings on her arms down to the backs of her hands. The bottom of the jacket fell to the ground and become tattered. Also a black hood appeared.

All of these changes occurred with the lights appearing and disappearing at the beginning and the end. In front of Simone the lights converged. At first, they move down a straight path leaving a black pole in their place. Then they turned into a red blade completing a second scythe. Simone took it into her left hand and formed a chain between her two weapons.

"Prepare to die …" Simone said as crossed the blades over each other diagonally. They were angled in such a way that the very tips touched and left an open window for Dilan to see Simone's face. Her irises had now become a pale blue in color. "Let's settle this quickly."

An instant later, Simone had disappeared and reappeared at Dilan's side bringing the scythe in her left hand, now set ablaze, into a wide arch. The winds fanned the flames trapping Dilan inside an inferno. The scythe was released and allowed to whip around the inferno coiling the chain as it did so. Simone pulled the chain taut to ensnare Dilan. However, it took too long to feel the resistance of solid matter. Simone's ice scythe was swung straight upward with the shout of "_Primum zero!_"

Dilan blocked with two of his Lindworms keeping the flame scythe at bay. When flame gave way to ice, three more lances dropped down on Simone. She jumped forward out of their path and yanked on her frozen chain. Out of the still spinning inferno came a scythe and a frozen Lindworm trapped by a chain. The chain broke sending the scythe and lance into the wall. However, something Dilan had not anticipated happened. Upon making contact the lance snapped in two.

Silence took hold of the room as the flames died out. Both Dilan and Simone looked at the broken Lindworm, Simone with a look of success, Dilan with a stare of impossibility. "How? How could my Lindworm have broken? What the hell did you do!" Dilan asked distraughtly.

"I took advantage of my surroundings, that's how." She replied looking at her scythe which embedded into the wall. "Those lances of yours are imbued with magic. Because of that they wouldn't break from stress of the sudden changes of heat my attacks caused."

"Neither does your weapon." Dilan retorted pointing to Simone's right hand. "Wouldn't your abilities have the same effect on it?"

"Not quite. Even though it looks like steel, the spear that serves as the pole for my scythe is made of a special alloy designed specifically to withstand those temperature changes."

"And how did you know mine wasn't the same case?"

Simone moved her coat the reveal the cut on her side. "It was when you cut me earlier. Access bodies have something of an allergy to magical energy. Those lances give off a resonance from the magic with which they're enhanced. When that resonance entered my wound, my body had a rejection reaction that intensified the pain. It was obvious what happened considering how shallow it is. After I figured that much out I immediately knew how to break them. "

"The nethicite…"

"Bingo. A property of frozen oxygen is make solid matter brittle. After my chain touched it, the same thing happened to your lance. When it hit the nethicite wall the supernatural aspect of it was taken for just a second. In that second, the natural kicked in and lance snapped from the impact."

"That doesn't explain why the same didn't happen to your scythe." Dilan had fully regained his composure at this point and stared down at Simone. "It should have lost its supernatural properties as well."

"Based on the information you have, yes, it should have. But let me give a new a piece of information. Normal beings come in three parts: the body, the soul, and the heart. Pieces are psychokinetic abilities that draw on the power of the body, unlocking its hidden potential. They're abilities that are written into every Access' DNA. Magic draws on the power of the heart, bringing dreams into reality. Then there's the soul, the tether between the physical plain and the spiritual one. The soul keeps us attached to this world and in some cases even after death, bounding the hearts and consciousness to the living. Usually these types of people appear as ghosts. However, if left alone, the spirits of these people turn into beast and wreak havoc using their new bodies. Those monsters are known as fiends. In other cases their spirit is so strong they form new bodies like their old ones out of small, lingering pieces of people souls, called pyreflies, which get left behind when they die: Unsent.

Ghost, fiend or Unsent, it's my duty as a Grim Reaper to hunt them down and send them to next life. Of course I never actually do that considering how much of a pain in the ass it is. But anyway that scythe was also was formed out of pyreflies thus unaffected by the nethicite." It disappeared from the wall and reappeared in her hand. "Get it now, Dilan?"

"As I said earlier, you're a longwinded girl. So longwinded that my Lindworm was able to repair itself."

An inaudible "Shit" then escaped Simone's breath. "Well then even if you know how I did it, there's really not that much you can do. Unless you cease all long ranged attacks I can grab those lances easily."

"Are all teenagers this arrogant, or is it just you and your friends?"

"Are you forgetting …" Once again Simone's speed brought her a few feet away from Dilan. Both of her scythes were held behind her back. "… Who has the advantage here?" Dilan blocked her attacks using the wind around him causing the flames to leap around for a second. The scythe in Simone's left hand dropped upside down onto the floor and ignited freezing the air around it and creating a column. Putting her hand on the ice, Simone pushed her body horizontally into the air and attacked again from her right. Another failure did not stop the attack. She pushed herself straight into the straight the air balancing with one hand before she brought her leg down. However, the resistance in the air was too much. Simone was lifted by her leg into the air caught in a powerful whirlwind.

Within the wind, there was little Simone could do. Unlike earlier, the wind Dilan produced now was sharp slicing into Simone's creamy brown skin. The most she could do was block her face from getting hit as her arms and legs were cut up. When she was released, Simone landed on her feet keeping herself steady through the pain of the open wounds. Her scythe transported to her bleeding left arm. Dilan would not let her relax even for a second. Slashes of wind flew at Simone. Despite their speed all of them were either deflected or completely avoided. Some of them hit the ground making incisions and creating holes.

Taking advantage of the momentary cease fire, Simone charged at Dilan, this time choosing to slide under the winds. Three Lindworms hit the ground in front of her forcing her to leave her ice scythe in the ground, not without a chain to pull on it, and fly out on top of her pyrefly one. Simone was now standing on top of her scythe floating in the air using flames. She pulled the chain upward and sent her scythe into the air at the wind that Dilan was inside of. As expected, Dilan teleported away clearing the blade with ease. Simone quickly kicked her scythe upward with one foot and a hung on with the other. The scythe and four of the Lindworms collided sending sparks from between the weapons. Twisting her whole body around, Simone forced all four lances back while swinging the chain of ice around Dilan's body and returning her scythe her right hand. The six lances, two of which were released from Dilan's hand when he was chained, began to thrust at Simone. She blocked them with ease using both her scythes.

For moments they continued this way, scythes and lances in a midair dance of wind and fire. Despite being chained up, Dilan controlled each Lindworm with precision taxing Simone as much as she taxed him. The wind fanned the purple flames, as oxygen crystals formed in the air. Slowly the crystals increased coating the Lingworms and Dilan. The ice increased in mass, weighing down the lances. Their movements slowed by a notable margin. Simone wasted no time in sending the lances in different directions. Her scythes were prepared to deliver a final blow, but the lances returned. They circled around her restricting her movements. At multiple intervals of time they struck cutting Simone's body again and again. She took deep breath and blew flames that were enhanced by the wind. These flames froze over locking the Lindworms inside.

Freed from the wind, Simone dropped to the floor looking for Dilan who had escaped from the chains. The Lindworms flew over to the side of the room opposite to Simone. There appeared Dilan the lances circling around him in a flurry of wind. They enlarged growing with the wind they generated. Assembling themselves into the form of a dragon's head, the lances allowed Dilan to rest on the wind around the back.

The dragon's head launched a stream of wind from its mouth at Simone. As the air flew, it tore into the ground leaving a trail of over turned stone in its wake. Even with her speed, Simone barely moved out the way in time. She looked at the stream of wind as the ground cracked from the sheer force. It began to move in a straight line in her direction. Simone hopped onto her ice scythe and rocketed across the floor with the blade scrapping across the ground. Within seconds the wall was reached. Jumping off of her scythe, Simone began to run up the wall before jumping off and flipping onto the floor.

Dilan's wind died down but the dragon remained with its mouth wide open. Out of it were shot powerful jets of air. Simone jumped and twisted desperately to avoid each shot all of which disappeared after hitting the walls. One of caught her coat creating a hole in the center. "_Shit, I can't afford too many close calls like that._" She thought as the pyreflies repaired the damage. "_Why the hell can't you do something about all these cuts?_"

She looked over as the dragon ceased fire, but its mouth remained open. Simone felt it, something pulling her. Her shoes slid across the floor bringing her closer to Dilan and the maw of lances. She planted her scythe blade into the ground refusing to be lifted the air. The suction picked up and brought stones from across the room creating a visible vortex. Within the dragon, the stones were cut up and broken into pieces. Simone grew closer to the head looking at closely seeking out way to escape. It did not take her long to realize she could not. However, she still refused let the wind take her. It was in vain. The mouth closed with Simone inside.

The dragon spat Simone out in a violent gust of ejecting both her and her blood. She coasted in air for a few still griping her red bladed scythe. Looking up, Simone could see Dilan above her with Lindworms disassembled. "Enjoy your trip to hell." He said as wind gathered around the lances.

Simone's face turned into an almost evil smile. "We're already there." Dilan looked confused. Even with her own blood flying through the air with her, she thought win. "_Cassius._" A large triangle of purple flames engulfed both of them hiding their bodies from sight. Simone flew out of the flames sliding across ground. The blaze gave way to frozen oxygen that incased Dilan. "_Brutus._" She said as she slashed across Dilan's chest. Simone picked up her spear and recreated the scythe blade. "_Judus._" Both blades connected with Dilan as the oxygen shattered. "_Improba Proditores._"

Dilan looked at the air where his blood rained into. He felt his inside be burned and cut into pieces. The Lindworms vanished as Dilan went to his knees. The red liquid fell from mouth as he began to lose feeling in his body. He looked up gazing at Simone trying to grasp his fate. Things grew hazy at first then blackness over took him. "_Ansem,_" he thought as bizarre euphoria took him. "_The only thing I could think of to redeem myself was to restore Radiant Garden to glory you worked so hard create. To do that, a leader was needed. Princess Kairi, she is the only who could do it the only who the people would except as their leader. If you truly are the grim reaper then hear my final request. Return Kairi to Radiant Garden._"

Simone watched as blood pooled around Dilan's body. Her coat and scythe disappeared into pyreflies leaving her with a spear. The marks on her vanished as well but, her stomach still had the eye like mark on it. She attached the scythe to shirt using oxygen. "I'm _a_ grim reaper, not_ the_ grim reaper. And how many times have I told you. I don't care about my duties or whatever." The white-haired girl said before she turned to corridor into the halls. "Now then, let's see what trouble Duffie got into this time."

**Pieces**

"My, it seems I underestimated Black Phoenix." Kairi charged at Rayn who simple grabbed her by wrist and flipped her onto her back. Rayn crouched down and hung her head above Kairi's smiling in a way that could only mean trouble. "They live above their reputation. I thought Crow would barely hold his own against Leon but, he's hardly taking the fight seriously. And to think, Dilan went and got himself killed. How sad." Her sarcasm indicated that she did not care.

The image of Dilan's corpse reflected in Rayn's keyblade. "_Xaldin was killed?_" Naminé said within confines of her and Kairi's shared mind.

"_He was in Organization XIII with Lea wasn't he? Don't tell me they actually beat someone like that!_" Kairi looked at Servant of the Rain and Dilan's body. "_If Aerith and Leon are here, then Yuffie and maybe… and maybe even Sora._"

"Hey, you still there, or are you and Naminé having party to celebrate your former captor's death. If that's the case than I think it's only fair that I get invited." Rayn kicked Kairi in the side sending her across the room. She walked over to be attacked by Kairi. In response Kairi was doused in a blue powder that appeared from Rayn's hoodie. Kairi stumbled back coughing before being lifted by her shirt. "Y'know, this has gotten boring. Tossing someone around like a ragdoll gets old after a while."She said as tossed Kairi away. "If you won't fight me at full strength then there's point in fighting at all."

"Like I need my full strength to fight you!" Kairi's Keyblade crackled with electricity before she charged at Rayn. "_Thunder Lance!_"

"Yeah, you do." The back of Rayn's fist slammed into Kairi's head knocking her back into ground. "Do yourself a favor. Screw the memory witch and at least try not to embarrass yourself. I mean come on. I'm younger than you yet I the advantage in every way. I'm physically stronger than you, have better skills in magic, and am far more experienced than you. All that power you want keep Naminé from, could save your life. I'm doing you favor. Had Lady Maleficent sent another one of the nine Temnye you'd be outright tortured to very brink death."

"Shut up!" Kairi shouted as she rose to her feet. "I'm nothing like you! I'd never let one of my friends die just to save my own skin. And who gives a damn about these chimney people anyway!"

"I suppose I may as well tell you. This fight looks like it's going nowhere." Rayn dismissed her Keyblade and sat down on the floor feeling no threat from Kairi. "The nine Temnye are Lady Maleficant's direct subordinates. As such we only answer to her making us a major chain in command among her forces. Of the nine, two of them, including myself, are in this castle. It seems that Isabel currently fighting the second one. But, what should you care, they did bring you to us after all. Or, have you already decided to forgive them."

"Yeah, I have forgiven them. I'm sure they won't apologize but, holding a grudge won't change anything. I'm somewhere there's a part of them that I can become with." Destiny's Embrace ignited. "But that doesn't change the fact that you hired them."

"Trying to see some good them." Rayn said in her sarcastic tone. "Duffie maybe, but I guarantee the rest of them are just plain evil at the core. Especially Isabel, you can see nothing but bloodlust and revenge inside her. I'm sure it's hard for you accept but, light can be just as evil as darkness. Once we're through here you won't be able to deny it."

"I don't care about that anymore! _Island Flash Fire!_" Kairi swung her keyblade creating a blade of fire.

"How pointless…" Rayn said as lunged forward while ducking underneath the flames. She grabbed Kairi's right with her own left and punched Kairi in the stomach letting a wave of darkness course through her body. Rayn once again threw Kairi across the room. "Unfortunately, I was told to keep you alive, so killing isn't an option. Personally I don't see why we need you anymore. After today, we'll have Kingdom Hearts at the tips of our fingers."

"Kingdom Hearts, huh. Man a decade and it's the same old same old." Jake's voice echoed through the room. Rayn looked over to see him leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. "You still in one piece princess?" Kairi stood up and nodded. "Good, now then stay out of my way while I deal Miss Rayn. I won't hesitate to cut through you if it means getting to her, got it?"

"Be careful. She can use the Keyblade." Kairi warned.

"What's your point? I can tell just by looking at those hands of hers that she's no swordsman. I'm right. Aren't I?" Jake had not moved an inch. "_Temnye… If they're anything close to her, this could be an interesting opponent."_

"You're 'Six Blade' right." Rayn removed her hoodie and wrapped it around her waist. This action revealed a blue T-shirt that said "Tears" in graffiti letters and an iron cross that hung around her neck. "Not only are you a Keyblade wielder, but you also have the remains of Vanitas inside your heart. You're doing a damn good of controlling him. A normal person would've gone mad by now."

"I don't want your bullshit."

"_What's with these two?_" Kairi barely stooped herself from saying that out loud "_Are they gonna fight or not_."

"_No, look closely_." Naminé said as she appeared behind Kairi. "They've already begun."

Rayn dropped through the floor into a Corridor of Darkness. Then two large black blades appeared and stabbed through where Rayn had just been. She reappeared above Jake with feet together and charged with dark energy. Jake counterattacked with one of his bladed legs knocking her onto to ground behind him in the hall. "Memorized!" he said as Rayn hands, which were not full fists but rather partly contracted, began to thrust at him.

Jake dodged Rayn's rapid moving hands back into the center of room. Rayn retreated for a second when Jake's two blades of raw darkness attempted to slice her hands off. She quickly went in for more attacks weaving through Jake's blades. Ducking down to avoid an attack, Jake swept at Rayn's legs with his own. She jumped up then bounced off of Jake's shin. Jake's white sword was out and in the air being held in his left hand.

Rayn's body was cut in two from the waist down. It dissipated into darkness. "_Drache Faust!_" Rayn stood on the ground launching a green fire blast from her right hand.

Jake enveloped his blade in darkness and slashed down using both hands. He landed on the ground leaving the flames in two masses before they fizzled out. "Memorized." Jake pulled out Yozora no kage and held both swords at his side. "Thanks." He said looking at Rayn. She was baffled. She knew that Jake was near immune to abilities he had seen before but, Rayn had many tricks up her sleeves. She was sure Jake was aware of that. "Now then, let's try this. _Dark Rush! Plus! Drache Faust!_" Both swords spewed green flames in the shape of sword blades. The flames completely out shined his eyes causing Jake's face to have a menacing shadow cast from beneath. "_Drache Rush!_"

Two massive green flames flew at Rayn at a size that dwarfed her technique. Holding out her hand Rayn created a corridor into which the Drache Rush flew into. Jake jumped backwards to avoid his own attack which left a trail of magic flame in its path thus setting the floor on fire. "Well that didn't go as I planned." Jake said passively, "but it gives me an idea."

"Incredible…" Kairi said on the other side of the room. From her position she could clearly Rayn and Jake attacking one another. "He used his eyes to learn Rayn's magic. Then, he combined with his own attack to make an even stronger one."

"Yeah, that was pretty impressive." Naminé said, "If I weren't around, you could've taken her yourself, huh."

"Stop talking like that. You treat yourself like you're burden and…"

"And what?" Naminé paused for moment. "You know, Kairi, I wouldn't have minded a peaceful life on the islands, where the days go steadily without much surprise. Strangely enough if that had been the way your life was I wouldn't be here. Then, there's you, someone who fantasized about a life on the go. Yet you were born as the princess to a world. Deep down you hate that fact. You wish you could live in a big city with malls and such or have an adventurous life like the one you've been leading for the past few months. Even if you choose to ignore it, there's a part of you that wishes I weren't around since I'm the one stopping you right now."

"I-I told not say things like that…" Kairi's voice quivered when she spoke. Both she and Naminé remained silent for a moment absently observing the battle taking place.

Their silence was broken when Rayn fell right next to them onto her face from a corridor. She pushed herself up with her nose dripping blood. "Bastard, he used my momentum against me. Oh well, it's not broken." She said wiping blood from her face. "_Still, I've gotta be careful about what I do around this guy. He learned Drache Faust so easily._" Rayn noticed that Kairi had slowly been tip-toeing away and smiled. "Please, you can't leave from here unless by some miracle I lose."

She lunged at Jake. Her hands were charged with magic electricity that crackled blue. "_Blitzkrieg!_" Jake backed up keeping track of Rayn's fast hands and controlling his dark blades. When the blades made contact with the electricity they were deflected leaving Jake nearly defenseless. He ducked back and using his swords as supporting threw two arched blades from his legs. Rayn's eyes did not waver as she stood perfectly in between the blades that were less than inches away from her back and breasts. She put left foot outward forcing herself into a crouching position under the dark blades. Palming her right fist she pointed her elbow upward and crashed into Jake's back shouting, "_Eirnesnes Kreuz!_"

Dark energy forced its way through Jake's body causing him to let go of his swords. He was launched into the air and thrown into wall barely managing to recover in time to hit with feet rather than his face. The force still created a crater in the wall at the site of impact. Jake dropped to the floor and onto his knees putting hand to his mouth. "That hurt pretty bad." He mumbled looking at the blood in his palm. "_I've gotta end this fight quickly. Whatever she's up to, I won't let her have her way._"

"Come on, there has to something we can do." Kairi said biting her nail.

"If you're not willing to take a day from me then you can't help him." Naminé flatly told her. "In your state now, you'd only get in his way."

"Are you serious or are you trying to piss me off?" Kairi asked beginning to anger. "Ever since this erosion business started you've been giving me hell! I know it's my fault for leaving Radiant Garden and my fault that Miranda and Dysen are going to be sucked into something they shouldn't! But mentally torturing me and making me feel guilty won't do a damn thing about it!"

"You call this torture? How would you feel if most of your existence was spent serving someone else or being trapped inside a prison that's slowly killing you?"

"So now my heart's a prison!" In the background Jake could be heard using Eirnesnes Kreuz. Kairi did not give it any mind. "Where else would you have gone after you put Sora's memories back together?"

"I wouldn't have been whole, but at least I'd have been able to do as I pleased." Naminé disappeared into a golden light leaving Kairi to stand alone.

"_I wonder how Sora and Roxas are doing. They're a lot better us I bet._"

**Pieces**

Sora was face down on the grassy lawn of a brick house. His surroundings with the exception the "Get the hell pod" indicated that it was fall where ever he was. Three figures stood across the lawn. One he easily recognized. The red haired man was wearing the same black outfit as Dilan except with skinnier sleeves. Under his green eyes were tear drop tattoos. To his left, stood a brunette woman with huge double-edged sword on her back. To the right, stood a black haired boy carrying a large backpack.

Sora would have run over to the three. However, magenta vectors held him down. He pushed his head up looking at Maria's face framed by brown hair. She was sitting Indian style on his back wearing a light blue jacket. Her feet were surrounded by magenta orbs. "Hoshi, what brings you here?" She said care freely. "I mean I can figure out how you got here but, I want to know why."

"You know damn well why I'm here." Sora grunted. The vectors were squeezing on his chest and torso restricting air flow. "Where's Kairi?"

"Kairi?" Maria said quizzically. She began to tap her chin and move her pink eyes around looking for an answer. She folded her arms and began to rise before flipping upside down by arching the vectors. Her face was now directly in front of Sora's. "Who the hell is Kairi?"

**Pieces**

_**Pieces character data log**_

**New**

_Name: Aerith Gainsborough_

_Age: 24_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (light)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee-Medic_

_Weapon: Quarter staff_

* * *

_Name: Maria_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-Vector (?)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: ?_

**Deceased**

_Dilan_

* * *

_**Yes, two poeple have "vector" but, the snowflake principle has not been broken. It'll be self explanatory later on. Leave a review please. No seriously leave a review. See Ya!**_


	7. Awakening

_**It's been less than three weeks since I last updated. Hell yeah!**_

* * *

"**Awakening"**

Maleficent smiled crookedly at one of the files she had been given. Her throne room was empty with the exception of herself and a silver haired man with a pair of sunglasses resting on his fore head. He wore a black suit with a blue tie and shirt. "Maximillion, I only asked for more detailed information on Jacob Marshall, not the entire organization."

She tossed a picture out of file down to Maximillion. "Sheesh, how many times do I have to tell ya to call me Max?" He said catching the photograph. Looking the photo, he could all the members of Black Phoenix along with others including Maria. From the swimsuits and beach towels one could guess that they were at the beach when the picture was taken. "Besides, even with my contacts, it was a pain the ass to get those files. I figured 'hey why not grab all of 'em; see what we're up against'" He said with a sly tongue.

"Are suggesting that these brats could become problem?" She looked at another picture that had Simone stomping Felix into concrete. "I highly doubt that Rayn and Isa can't deal with them."

"It's just, I don't want this castle vanishing as all. Personally I recommend just killing Riku and company off right now." He pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "My contacts in Daltus should be able handle it. Clean up the mess too. _I'll get that moron Pete 'caught in the crossfire' while I'm at it._"

"No, nothing will be more satisfying than hearing Sora beg for me to end his pathetic life after I've killed his friends right in front of him." Maleficent said gazing into the crystal ball on her staff. Inside of the clouded orb appeared Felix and Leon both with shuriken in their foreheads. Yuffie stood in front of them going on about who knows what.

"Boring," Max said with a bored look on his face. "Not interested in the ninja chick's bitching. Change the channel."

"And just who do think you are speaking to in that tone!"

"Damn, you weren't exaggerating when you said you were queen of evil, no sense o' humor." Max said calmly loosening his tie. "You gotta loosen up. What's the point in taking over the universe if ya can't have little fun?"

"That attitude will cost you dearly one of these days." Maleficent's orb changed scenes into the fight between Isabel and Isa. Isabel's pistols had changed drastically becoming huge octagonal barrels firing cannon like shots. Isa's face had become more beast-like showing fangs. The scar had increased in size and his blue hair was wild and unkempt. Each time Isa swung his white claymore shockwaves were produced attacking Isabel from a distance.

"Huh, so that's what he looks like when he fights seriously. I kinda feel sorry for her." At just that moment Isabel's right arm was partially cleaved off. The price Isa paid was a cannon shot to the head from the left. "See, shit like that is why I prefer to stay off the frontlines. Hey, the picture's gettin' fuzzy." Max pointed to the orb and the image began to fade.

"That blasted nethicite in the castle must be interfering." Maleficent said as the picture went blank.

"Well there goes my entertainment." Max said with disappointment. "Anyway, I'm goin' back to Daltus. If ya need anything else, speak now or forever hold your peace. Oh wait; you don't have one."

A dark bolt came from Maleficent that Max narrowly avoided. "If you want something to do make sure Pete doesn't do anything foolish."

"Alright, sheesh, I got it." Max pulled out a small a remote-like device and pointed it forward. After pushing a few buttons a beam shot that produced a Corridor of Darkness. "By the way, ya better make copies of those files. There's a bi-weekly inspection of the place those are stored and it'll raise some serious alarms if they're gone." He stepped through the portal going to industrial city of Daltus.

Finally after gaining a moment of peace, Maleficent looked through the file with Jake's name. In it were various records such including photos and a copy of his birth certificate. Maleficent was not interested in those things, however. She wanted information on the keyblade, anything that might have connected Jake to it. She found had been looking for: a news paper headline with title "Boy Massacres Town."

"'A young boy roughly the age of ten or eleven-years-old is responsible for vicious slaughter of nearly half of the inhabitants of East Wood, nearly one-thousand people eye witnesses claim.'" She read aloud. "'Authorities claim that while this was undoubtedly the work of a l'cie, though it questionable that a mere child could perform such a act of homicide. Continued on page A2' which is not here."

She looked through the folder and found another article dated a short time after. "'The main suspect in the East Wood massacre was confirmed last night in the most tragic of ways. After days of tracking Faltian military forces located young Jacob Marshall in the mountains west of East Wood. However, upon reaching sight strange creatures attacked the soldiers taking many of their lives. One of the soldiers who has chosen to remain anonymous gave a brief description of the event. 'We arrived at the scene thinking it dome kind of joke. There was no way a kid could do that much damage. When we found him, he was holding this weird weapon. It looked like gears welded on to a giant key. Then those things showed up. They were craziest things I've ever seen. That kid just stood there and stared with those amber eyes.' When we tried to obtain any more information…' meaning that there's nothing else useful here."

Maleficent looked deeper into the file. In it she found multiple articles on criminal actions Jake had taken against the Faltian Empire. However, there was no evidence of the Keyblade anywhere else, but there was something else that intrigued her: a report done by a high ranking officer in the Faltian military:

_Jacob Marshall is highly dangerous criminal even at the young age of thirteen. His skills as a swordsman rival my own and to top this, his Piece restricts the use of other Pieces. 'Cancel' is easily a level four maybe even five. Though I'm not sure I believe the power works like this. At the most, a typical human can sense Piece Trigger waves emitted unconsciously by Access with a little training. His eyes must be able to see more than that and 'memorize' the exact wavelength. This is then transferred to the brain as sequenced electric pulses. He then re-emits the PT waves thus neutralizing his target's Piece. There's also the fact that he's part l'cie. I've never seen magic like his before. He takes magic energy and molds it into a solid form._

_Put simply Marshall is dangerous enemy with dangerous powers. Yet he his personality makes me wonder how he could possibly be directly responsible for all those deaths two years ago. That is not my place to understand, however. My place is to capture Jacob Marshall in the name of the Faltian crown._

_Cpt. Milo Wilson_

Maleficent sat in thought pondering the possibilities. "_He came out once, but I wonder what it will take to bring him out again._" She pondered. It remained silent for a moment. This silence was broken by the destruction of one of her throne rooms walls. Maleficent turned to the cloud dust that covered the newly created hole wondering what was going on. Out the smoke came a monstrosity she found hard to look. Part of it seemed human but the rest the body of a Shadow. Half of the mouth was closed by darkness and an antenna protruded from its head. Its right arm had turned into the claw of a shadow and the torso was inky black.

Out of its human hand shot a red sphere that flew towards Maleficent. She easily waved it off with her staff and sent green flames from the crystal ball. Within seconds the flames consumed the creature leaving only a pile of ash in its place. "Know your place you wretched creature."

From the hole came a pink haired woman wearing a white lab coat. She looked at the ashes and Maleficent before frantically prostrating herself. "My sincerest apologies Lady Maleficent!" She said with head bowed to the floor. "While conducting tests, that creature escaped rampaged throughout the castle. Damage is minimal, but the both your throne room and laboratory will require some repair." The woman slowly looked up at Maleficent's face. "_Please, don't kill me._"

"When Rayn returns, tell her that she needs gain better control over her experiments. Now get out of my sight."

The woman ran out of the room as fast she could to escape Maleficent's glaring eyes. She turned her attention back to Jake's file looking further into its contents.

**Pieces**

Isabel's pistols were crossed above her head. Isa's massive claymore, Lunatic, was caught in between them pushing downward. She ducked forward and to the side barely avoiding the claymore. It hit ground and created a shockwave that destroyed the ground in the process. "_I only need one second._" And Isabel used that one second to fire a cannon-like shot at Isa's torso. With her arm thrown back from the recoil, she watched Isa be blown backwards. He landed on his feet and looked at Isabel with his beast like eyes. "That big ass sword of yours is hard to control. It takes way too time much for you to recover from using your attacks. One second will get you killed in gun fight." Isabel as she reloaded her pistols.

Isa stood up and looked at his opponent. His feral feature rescinded further revealing the damage he had received. "The same could be said for you. Between removing the clip and replacing, you lose at least two point five seconds." Isa's face was totally blank. "Still, it would be troublesome if I were defeated here. I would prefer fighting you under moonlight. You're strong but, the light inside you is painful to the touch. Though somewhere in the deepest points of your heart there is but a small trembling child."

Isabel smiled. The smile was small and crooked. Her violet eyes were glazed over with a demonic blood thirst. "You know something, Luna." Her pistols returned to their normal state. She pointed both of them at Isa. "La diabla you're lookin' at was formed because of la niña inside of me. La diabla doesn't want la niña to ever come out again and doesn't want her to be seen. You wanna know what I see in your heart. I see a coward who's too scared to fess up to his sins. Santa Maria can't help you if you're like that."

"The Virgin Mary, I wonder what kind of person she was. Having the burden of giving birth outside of marriage is something that could've gotten her exiled. Yet she trusted the angel that was sent to her by God. In a way I am the same. Kingdom Hearts returned my heart to me. And so for it, I will bring it into the world let it have its will no matter what it may be."

"Damn, you've got balls. To compare yourself to Maria herself, it'd be considered a blasphemy to most priests. Not that I really give two shits. If there is a God, I'll burn in hell for all eternity." She leveled one of the pistols with Isa's head. "Tell ya what. I'll kill ya now and, your ghost can come back to tell me if God exists or not."

"Unfortunately we are but a moment away from the next step to re-awaking Kingdom Hearts. I suppose I'll get a front row view of that spectacle." A corridor opened behind him. "Farwell and good luck." He stepped through being followed by gunshots.

**Pieces**

Duffie and Aerith ran across the court yard that the castle surrounded. As much as they would have liked to enjoy the vegetation that had grown over the centuries, the Knightshaker which had produced blue legs from its tail of darkness was hot on their tails, which was literal in Duffie's case who had taken to running on all fours. The Knighshaker brought one of its arms to the ground and created a shockwave that swept both Duffie and Aerith off their feet.

They landed with enough grace to continue running without much recovery time, but that did not change the fact the Knightshaker was coming after them. It jumped into the air high above Sera Castle. Its landing created an even larger shockwave than before. It uprooted the plants that were growing and over turned the cobblestone walkway that weaved its way through the courtyard. Duffie and Aerith were knocked to the ground by the force covered by dirt and plants.

Knightshaker loomed them over down on all fours. Duffie looked up in horror as it raised its right arm. "_We're done for…_" He thought as Aerith stood with quarterstaff in hand. Her whole body glowed as if to prepare some kind of magic. However, before she could unleash it, clear blue liquid poured onto the Knightshaker. Aerith ceased casting her spell as she watch the Heartless be captured in a blue tinted ice. "Simone!" Duffie shouted from underneath the creature.

Simone stood atop her spear floating in the air on purple flames. Her right hand was held outward over the Knightshaker. "I suggest you and your friend get out from under there, Duffie." She said raising her hand above her. Duffie and Aerith quickly removed themselves from under the Heartless while a huge fire ball appeared over Simone. She pointed her hand back downward and unleashed the flames. The Knightshaker's entire body ignited on impact lighting the entire courtyard crimson. It writhed around in pain twisting its body into the walls of the castle.

"Simone! That isn't going to work!" Duffie shouted at her as the beast regained its composure. It looked at Simone then stood on its legs. The white-haired girls stared down the Heartless looking dead into its yellow eyes. The Knightshaker pulled back its fist and threw it into the air. Simone's spear head spewed flames propelling it and its rider forward. While moving, Simone's hand left a trail of frozen oxygen which evaporated almost instantly. She took out her dagger and connected to a chain. Simone threw the blade at the Knightshaker's neck where it stuck into the stone body.

Dodging another fist, Simone dove downward from the front and looped up from the back. She continued to criss-cross the chain and wrapped up the arms and legs until the Knightshaker's movements were greatly restricted. Then, the entirety of the chain ignited at once. The purple flames seem to move toward Simone. Slowly the Heartless froze over stopping it from moving all together.

Simone's right hand kept a grip on the chain most of which blended into the oxygen that contained the Knightshaker. With her left hand she planted the blade of her spear into the ground at an angle that it pointed to the Heartless. It launched like rocket as bright flames being blasted out from the blade. In less than a second it crashed into the frozen mass cracking substantially. "Come on…" Simone muttered as the spear held its place still blasting into the beast's torso. After two seconds, which felt like an eternity to Duffie who had been watching from a relatively safe distance, it shattered scattering pieces of the Knightshaker into the air and crashing into the castle.

Simone watched calmly as parts of the Knightshaker rained down around her. She noticed that her spear crashed into the castle leaving a hole in the wall. Darkness exhumed from the Knightshaker's broken body and went into the castle walls.

"We did it! Yahoo!" Duffie shouted as ran to give Simone a hug. The closest he got to a hug was Simone's foot planting his face into the ground.

"Don't say 'we did it' when all you did run around like a dumbass."

**Pieces**

Yuffie, Leon, and Felix stared at Simone's spear as it stuck out of the wall. The air around quivered with incredible heat. "Whoa! It crashed in out of nowhere!" Yuffie said full of energy. "What were we talking about again?" Both Felix and Leon had gauzes on their foreheads from getting hit with shuriken.

"We're talking about how this guy believes everything he hears." Felix said pointing at Leon.

"Grow up;" Leon said calmly, "We were talking about how Rayn manipulated us into fighting one another. You were as fooled just as much as were."

"You're just mad 'cause _my_ Black Phoenix rescued _your _princess. Not only was I a few seconds away from winning that fight, Jake is also beating the crap out of Rayn as we speak." Felix boasted. "So what are you gonna do. Seeing as your princess ran away from home and is being hunted by Faltia, bounty hunters, and this Maleficent bitch, you could use a guy a like me on your side."

"What are you getting at?" Leon asked.

"Well, obviously your best chance to get Umihana home in one piece is to ask a guy who handles this type of business on a regular basis. I'm offering you a deal. Let me be in charge of the princess's safe return to wherever the hell she came from."

"Like it's that easy. I'm sure you could do it, but what's the catch. I can tell you want something out of this."

"Simple demands which I'm sure royalty will have no issue handling." Leon raised an eyebrow. "First of all, I want ten million munny no strings attached." Leon gritted his together, not so much for the price of services as for the "First of all…" "Secondly I want freedom to move about in the Realm of Light as I please."

"You can forget the one second one!" Leon shouted. "There's no way anyone would let you run around the Realm of Light no matter what the circumstances"

"Yeah, I figured as much." Felix chided in defeat. "But I figured it was worth a go. In that case the price goes up to twenty million. Take it or leave it."

"_The price itself isn't the issue here. It's whether or not parliament is willing to pay. They've seen any and all threats to Radiant Garden as meaningless unless it costs them._" Leon stood silent for moment weighing the options. "No promises."

"None to be made yet. Now then, let's see what all the commotion is about." Felix walked to the hole in the wall and looked out at the courtyard. "Yo! Simone, watch where you're aiming! Ya damn near killed me!"

Simone looked up and saw Felix's spiky hair sticking out the castle. Her foot released Duffie as Aerith walked over. "Yeah whatever, I made sure not to hit you; didn't I."

"Gee, thanks." Felix muttered. "Say, who's the brunette? She with these two?"

"Aerith!" Leon said jumping down into the courtyard. Yuffie followed. Felix put on thick brown gloves pulled Simone's spear out of the wall before jumping down himself. "I thought you were staying the ship."

"I was." She said earnestly. "But you guys taking too long and I got worried."

Yuffie just stood and stared for second. Her eyes remained on Simone's chest. "Crap! Your boobs are almost as big as Boobs boobs are!" All stood silent. "You're the one shot that spear us right. How'd you do that?"

"What!" Simone shouted covering her chest with her arms. "Why would you just say something like that out of the blue! Who are you people, anyway!"

"I'm glad asked." Yuffie jumped onto a large piece of ruble. "I am the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi! And these two, are Squall Leonhart and Aerith Gainsborough."

"It's Leon."

"They have accompanied me on my quest to rescue our princess from, well, apparently not you guys."

"I wouldn't consider a one day trip to be a quest." Leon said. "But on that note where _is_ Kairi. None of that matters if we can't bring her back to Radiant Garden."

"Damn straight, that's twenty million on the line." The gloves Felix was wearing were smoldering.

"_I probably shouldn't mention that's four times as much as we were getting to bring her here._" Simone thought as she took her spear back. "I'll see if I can find her." Simone's eyes began to glow incandescently. "_Interesting, their story on returning Umihana seems to check out but, where is she?_" Simone looked around Sera Castle until she saw four souls in one room. "Found them. It looks like Jake's fighting Rayn right now. They seem to be evenly matched but, what's up with Umihana. Naminé seems to be repressing herself."

"Let's just ask her." Felix said removing his gloves. "Just point me in the right direction."

"It's over there." Simone said pointing the first level wall to the east.

"Wait, your abilities won't work against those walls." Leon said.

"True, a direct hit from my vector won't do any damage, so I'll be attacking in different way." Felix faced the point at which Simone pointed. His fist glowed magenta as he pulled it back. "_Icarus Cannon…_" Felix threw a quick jab at the air. From it a gust of wind that seemed to convey to a single point was created. That point collided with the wall creating a massive hole it. "Crap." Felix said softly.

"What was that!" Yuffie said jumping down from her pedestal.

"So that's it." Leon put his hand to his chin. "Instead of trying to break it with those arms of yours, you used your wind abilities. Since it's not directly part of vector, that technique could bypass the nethicite."

At just that moment, Kairi was flung out of the castle unconscious. Leon saw her coming and managed to catch her before she crashed into the ground. Her face was noticeably red with pain. Jake followed flying on top of his dark blades. He looked at the crystal tower and floated in the air for a moment gazing upon its light. "Damn it."

Finally Rayn came out looking at her adversaries with a crooked smile. "Not exactly according to plan but close enough."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean!" Leon shouted.

The tower brightened. It kept brightening brighter and brighter. Everyone shielded their eyes as the tower unleashed its light blinding anyone who looked at it. For seconds nothing could be seen. However, something could be heard. The sound of glass cracking and shattering erupted.

The light gave way. Everyone looked up and was completely astonished. Sera Castle in its entirety was gone. The tower and stone walls that encircled the courtyard had disappeared as though they had never existed. All that stood, besides the people, was a wooden door. "What the fuck!" Isabel's voice rang in the empty space.

"Yo, Izzy, where've you been?" Felix asked calmly.

"Gee, I was busy- fallin' three fuckin' stories!"

"Would you two stop arguing and explain what is going on here." Leon demanded keeping an eye on Rayn.

"Like we're supposed to know." Felix said. "Why don't you ask Miss Rayn over there? She seems to know something." Behind Rayn there was a puff of smoke. Yuffie appeared wielding her four-point shuriken and swung at Rayn's torso. Servant of the Rain flashed into existence and deflected the attack.

"A Keyblade…"

"What else can it be?" Rayn held her hand up with green flames burning on it. "_Drauche Faust…_" Yuffie disappeared and reappeared next to Leon before the flames could hit. "If you'll excuse me, I've got one last bit of business to take care; then I must be off." Rayn pulled a remote from pocket and pressed the only button on it. A dark purple field of magic appeared around what was once the perimeter of Sera Castle. Servant of the Rain was pointed at the wooden door.

"_Icarus Cannon_!" A shot of air flew at Rayn at high speeds while at the same time a beam of magic shot at the door. Rayn jumped leaving her Keyblade behind. The sound of a door unlocking was heard. The door flung open releasing a lucid black light. Kairi's unconscious body began to rise out of Leon's hands. Her body gently glowed white. A beam of lucid black shot out of her chest and flew into the door. Six other beams followed these having come from the sky.

Kairi floated back into Leon's arms as waves of darkness began flowing out of the door. They ran across the ground kicking dust and dirt into the air. Then six larger beams of the lucid light flew out the door and into the sky through the barrier Rayn had created. A seventh came out the door. However, unlike the others, this one circled overhead before descending into Felix's unexpecting arms turning into a rather large orb. A light shined from his chest and quickly faded.

"What the hell…" Felix said as the light took shape. At first it was the silhouette of a young girl. Then the light faded revealing a five or six-year-old girl in a dark blue dress. Her hair was dark gray and in her arms was a music box with the figure of a monkey wearing fancy looking robes and holding a pair of cymbals attached to the top. "Okay…random…"

Everyone there looked at Felix in awe. Even Rayn was stunned by this sudden development. "Isa, I know you're still here! Let's retreat, now!" Rayn shouted into the air.

Isa appeared from within a corridor showing no emotion on his face. "Even the two of us together couldn't defeat all of them. Our mission was neither a complete success nor a failure."

"True. But still, we got seven princesses so, it's all good." Rayn joined Isa in the corridors letting the portal close behind her.

"Hey, don't just leave this kid here with me!" Felix shouted.

"They're gone. Shouting won't do any good." Leon said in a cool manner.

"We should contact Yen Sid and the King they'll know what to do." Aerith said.

"Good, daddy is the one who pays so; I'd rather talk to him on the matter." Anyone who was not member of Black Phoenix laughed at this. "What's so funny?"

"You'll see." Aerith said with a smile.

**Pieces**

The mouse king sat on his throne in thought. To his right stood an aged man with a long grey beard. He was wearing a blue robes and a conical hat adorned with yellow star and a crescent moon. His eyes, wide open, were filled with a deep intensity. To the king's left was another. He stood in a suit that looked like it was worth more than what most people made in a year. His slightly grayed hair was neatly cut and his beard well trimmed around his mouth.

The three of them looked at the huge monitor that was hanging from the ceiling. "Cid, when I asked you do this, I also asked that you make inconspicuous." King Mickey said in his high voice. It was very conspicuous. In fact, you barely see anything on the other side.

Cid landed right in front the throne holding a wrench in his hand. Goggles sat on his head with his blond hair. He wore a blue T-shirt with green trousers and had a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. "It is inconspicuous, when ya ain't usin' at least." Cid said pulling out a remote control. He pushed one of the multiple buttons and the monitor went back and up into the ceiling facing downward.

"Gosh, it still stands out a lot." The king commented.

"You can worry about your castle's cosmetics later." The suited man spoke in a strong, deep voice. "We need to focus on rescuing Princess Kairi. That's our top priority."

"I must agree with Prime Minister Stalwart." The man in blue robes spoke. His voice was aged, with wisdom ingrained in his words. "We should get into contact with Leon as soon as possible. I sense a great darkness has just awoken."

"So you felt it too, Master Yen Sid." Yen Sid nodded slowly. "Cid, can you get in touch with Leon as it is now?"

"Course I can." Cid pushed the button that lowered the monitor then pushed another that revealed speakers hidden the in wall. "It's all hooked up to Radiant Garden's dimension network and ready to go."

After a moment of static on the screen, Leon appeared on screen looking somewhat agitating, "HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY." Leon's voice erupted out of the speakers forcing everyone to cover their ears.

"Wait! Lemme turn the volume down!"

"WOULD YOU AND YOUR DAMN BIRD STOP BEING RETARDED!" Simone shouted at the top of her lungs creating even more pain for the King and his guests. Cid frantically pushed the volume button to lower the sound output.

"Alright, Leon, go." Mickey said.

"I'll cut right to the chase."

"You're damn straight we're cuttin' to the chase." Felix interrupted pushing Leon away. "Now which one of you old geezers is king? We've got some discussing to do."

"Give us the money, caw!" Worc said flying onto Felix's shoulders.

"I'm the King around here." Mickey said proudly.

Felix stared for moment. He walked off screen then returned holding Kairi up by her dark green sleeveless shirt. For a few seconds he looked back and forth between the king and Kairi. "You put her down this instant!" Stalwart commanded.

"Sure." Felix dropped her onto the airship's floor.

"Ow!" She said when she hit the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you? Who drops people on the floor like that?"

"Old geezer in the suit told me to." Felix's sarcastic smile only angered her even more. This anger quelled when Kairi looked at Stalwart for herself.

"Prime Minister…" Kairi said silently.

"Now then, I don't what the fuck kinda kingdom you're runnin', but I…" A frozen oxygen ball with the word "dumbass" inscribed on it fell onto Felix before he said anything further.

Simone walked up to screen with Leon while Kairi moved aside. "I apologize on the behalf of Felix and all of Black Phoenix for the things that have come out of his mouth thus far."

"Black Phoenix, you're the ones responsible for Kairi's kidnapping." Stalwart declared.

"Kidnapping!" Felix shouted as broke out from the ball. "We may have…" Simone slowly turned her head and sent Felix a glare that told him to shut the hell up. "I'm just gonna stop talking."

"Our informant turned out to be working with Maleficent." Leon began to explain. "Her goal was to get all of us to fight so she could use the energy to awaken…" Leon paused for moment and looked straight at Yen Sid. "…what we believe to be the seven princesses of darkness."

Breaths were held for a few seconds before Yen Sid spoke up and said "Do you have any proof to confirm that?"

"Actually one of them flew into to this guy's arms." Leon said pointing to Felix. "She's a little girl so she probably did it by mistake."

"Where is she right now?" Stalwart demanded.

"Um, here she is." In the background Aerith entered the room with girl holding her hand. In her other hand was the music box held closely to her body. She looked around and saw Felix before running up to him.

"Hi, I'm Christine." Her cute voice could be heard in the throne room.

Felix lifted her by the back of her shirt and looked her dead in the. "I know those eyes." He said. "Those are the eyes of real trouble maker." Aerith's quarterstaff hit Felix on the head before Aerith took Christine into her arms. Simone stepped back to give Aerith room.

"Hi, mister mouse." Christine said. "Are you the king?"

"Hello." The king replied, "And yes I am. I'm King Mickey Mouse."

"I'm Christine Lampae. I can do magic. Wanna see?"

"It'd be my pleasure." The king happily replied. "_This'll be a good chance see if Leon's right or not._"

A small blue orb of magic formed in right and turned into a ball of fire. The fire split apart into little ball before crashing into the faces of anyone who was in the immediate vicinity. "Fireworks." Christine said as the smoke cleared. Everyone except her own and Simone's faces were blackened.

"You little brat!" Felix shouted. "You did that on purpose." Another oxygen ball reading "jackass" dropped on him before he could reach for Christine's neck.

"We can't confirm anything until you bring her to us." Yen Sid said.

"Not exactly." Jake cut through the oxygen and sheathed his sword in one swift movement. The top fell off at a diagonal leaving the screen. "The name's Jacob Marshall but, everyone calls me Jake."

"It's nice to meet ya." Mickey said with smile.

"Something like that. Anyway I've already confirmed that she has to be a Princess."

"Because my mommy and daddy said so, that's why." Christine said looking at her music box.

"Unless you have evidence, I'm not interested in the babbling of teenagers." Stalwart looked into Jake's green eyes.

"These eyes of mine are all I need to confirm it." Jake pointed at his right eye with his thumb. "My eyes can see both PT waves and light and darkness in peoples' hearts. While I can't judge a person's character based on that I can gauge the light to darkness ratio. Right now the amount of light in Christine's heart is zero. Under normal circumstances a person would have become a Heartless. But Christine isn't. She's still fully human."

"Even if you're right…" Mickey began. "We can't just let the situation go."

"Actually, I was just planning to leave her with them." Leon suggested.

"Oh, hell no!" Felix shattered the oxygen and jumped onto his feet. "There's no freakin' way we're keeping her. We're not baby sitters."

"I agree." Stalwart said sternly. "We need to keep her contained before she begins to wreak havoc on the world."

"I said I wanted her out of my hair. Not locked up for no damn reason." Felix said with just as much sternness as Stalwart. "If you judge a person based on stupid things like light and darkness, you've got no right to call yourself a prime minister of anything. Got it, dumbass?"

"Who do you think talking to, boy?"

"An old fart who needs to get with the program. Do you really think that it matters whether a person goes with light or darkness?"

"Have you seen how dangerous darkness is!" Stalwart began to lose his temper. "It swallows worlds, devours the heart of innocents. Why should we simply let someone who could very well be the pinnacle of such a force run free?"

"What does pinnacle mean?" Christine asked raising her hand.

"Yeah, that can _really _swallow worlds." Felix argued.

"You haven't seen what we've seen. The destruction darkness can cause is beyond your comprehension."

"And so is the destruction that light can cause. Isabel Cortez: case and point. Let me tell ya a fact of life that you don't seem to have learned yet. Power is power. Whether it's light, darkness, or whatever, it can still destroy, hurt, and kill just the same. If there's a Realm of Light there must be a Realm of Darkness, right." Stalwart looked at him quizzically. "What if the same happened there, except with light swallowing up worlds? Just little food for thought."

"I don't have time for arguing with you." Stalwart said. "I next move is return Princess Kairi to Radiant Garden. After that we'll focus on locating and punishing her kidnapper."

"Wait a minute." Kairi stepped up to the screen. "I want to make one thing clear. I was not kidnapped."

"If you weren't kidnapped then where the hell have been!" Stalwart shouted.

"I have to ask the same Kairi." Mickey stated. "We have no idea what happened during the time that left up until now."

"I left a letter on my bed in the castle, didn't I?" Kairi said.

"There was no letter anywhere." Stalwart declared. "The bottom line is that you've created panic throughout multiple worlds just so you could mess around and do who knows what. The media will have field day if word about this gets out." Stalwart held his breath his for a moment weighing his options. "_I could say that it was some kind of accident or a misunderstanding but, I have at least five scapegoats. Yes, it would be much better to have an 'accident' than to have a runaway princess. _Leon, get her to Radiant Garden immediately. Also contact Sora and company bring them here with you. That is all."

"Yes, sir." Leon said reluctantly.

"Mickey Mouse!" A high voice rang throughout the throne room. From behind the big screen came Queen Minnie in her large pink dress. "I told you, you were not turning the throne room into some kind of man cave." She said waging her finger. Like Mickey she was a black mouse.

"But Minnie, this stuff is for communications. See." Felix and Jake were posing on the screen as though they were ducking. In the background was an image of an exploding building. A black pause symbol was in the bottom right corner. "Cid! Do something."

Cid pushed a button that made the screen turn from the communications channel to sports. "I don't believe it! The Aurochs have tied to the game! With only five seconds left on the clock, we are going into overtime folks!" The announcer shouted gleefully.

"Um…" was all Mickey said.

**Pieces**

Two oxygen balls with the words "ass" and "holes" on them respectively rested on top of Felix and Jake. They quickly broke them apart and sprang to their feet. "Would you two grow up?" Simone scolded. "And learn some damn respect."

"We'll grow up when we're supposed to." Isabel said. She was in the main cockpit of the airship they were traveling in. Simone had burned the cardboard background literally a second after Cid changed the channel. "That's comin' from the girl who beat the shit out of an entire biker gang because one of them commented on sus chichis."

"That's totally different." Simone's face began to brighten. "Those bikers needed to learn manners. I'm fourteen for Christ's sake. What kind of perverted old men wolf whistle at a girl's breasts? And they all thought I was some kind of rebel because it was a 'school night.' Hello, I've never been to school. That's only because the craptastic board of education decide I was too much of a threat to the other students to be near them. I destroy one store and suddenly I'm the child from hell. But that's really of topic; isn't it?

"You killed twenty of them then stuck their leader's head on your spear." Duffie reminded. This earned him Simone's heel to the face.

"Can we get the matter at hand?" Leon said after a long pause. "I'll get Sora and the others on the line. Could you guys just, you know, keep quiet?"

"Whatever," Felix said.

Leon entered a sequence of commands before a dial sound on screen. "Hello." Riku's voice hit Kairi full force.

"Riku?"

"K-Kairi? I can't believe it!" He said ecstatically. "Where have you been this whole time? We looked everywhere for you. When I find Sora I'm not sure kick his ass first or tell him you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"Other than a bump on my head, yeah, I'm fine." Kairi smiled at Felix who stuck his tongue out at her.

"Wait, is Sora not there with you?" Leon interjected. "I hate to rush things but, we're supposed be in Radiant Garden as soon as possible."

"Actually, there are a couple of really funny stories behind why can't go to Radiant Garden right now." Riku said with disdain in his voice.

"And those would be?" Leon was annoyed at this point.

"Well, you know how Sora's been acting funny lately. He kinda got into a fight with guys called Black Phoenix, tried to storm their base and…"

"I can fill in blanks." Felix said with no hesitation. "He's dead right."

"Who the hell are you?" Riku asked.

"Felix Hunter."

"Oh great…" Riku muttered. "He's not dead, just lost. Some pod..."

"What kind of idiot gets stuffed in the 'get the hell out' pods." Jake asked.

"And what is a 'get the hell out' pod anyway." Leon asked.

"Well, In case we decide someone isn't worth killing, which happens very rarely, we launch them to one of fifty locations chosen at random by an on board computer. Since it's a one way deal they usually don't come back for while if at all." Felix explained. "Duffie can track it but, we can't do that until we get back to Daltus."

Leon sighed at this information. "Anything else we should know?"

"How do I put this?" Riku said solemnly. "We don't know the way back to the Realm of Light."

"What?"

"From what Cid told us, there are certain points where the dimensional barrier separating the Realms of Light and Dawn is weaker. It's through these weak spots that we can travel between the two." Riku began to explain. "The problem is that they don't overlap one another on either side of the barrier. It's like a one way street. "

"In other words, you need to find an inter-dimensional hot-spot, right?" Jake interpreted.

"In its simplest form, yes."

"Now it looks like you really need our help." Felix said. "See, not only do you need to find this Sora guy but you also need one of those hot-spots. Only we can find out where the pod went and I know a person that knows where one of your hot-spots is. Our original agreement fell through due some issues during negotiation."

"That was just you being a dumbass, dumbass." Simone corrected.

"Shut up! My point is that I want twenty million munny in exchange for getting your princess and Sora to Radiant Garden."

"And just where do you plan on taking that munny from?" Riku asked with concern.

"The royal treasury, where else." Felix's voice lacked hesitation. "That isn't not an issue, is it, Umihana."

"My name is Kairi."

"You should have said so. It's really unimportant to me. What I want is an answer."

All were silent for a moment. Kairi looked at everyone in the room. Christine seemed interested but confused. "_Naminé, you can hear me right._"

"_Yeah, I can hear you. Why?_"

"_Do you think-I can trust him?_" Kairi asked.

"_Come in here. I don't want Jake hearing us._"

**Pieces**

Kairi stood on a stone plateau across from Naminé. Underneath the plateau flowed a river slowly wearing away at the pillar supporting it. In the distance a huge gate stood blocking the waters from crashing down on the plateau drowning Naminé. In the center was a three point crown.

Naminé sat down with her arms wrapped around her legs and faced the gate. "Sit down; get comfortable." Kairi did so choosing to sit right next to her Nobody. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was upset; that's all."

"It's okay. I understand. Things have been pretty crazy for the past few days."

"Kairi, unless we're separated, I'm going to fade away, absorbed by the light. That Stalwart doesn't have a clue about what he's saying. Light and darkness have always coexisted. Without one the other has no meaning. That's just the way it is. That's why those in the light need a little darkness in them. And those in darkness, even Maleficent, need a little light them." Naminé finally looked at Kairi's face then looked back at the gate. "That's what Stalwart wants, a world where there's only light. We can't let that happen. We can't let Maleficent fill the worlds with darkness either."

Kairi punched Naminé in the arm and jumped to her feet. "You don't think I know that? That's one of the reasons I left Radiant Garden. I didn't feel like being controlled by that creep. He obviously is only watching out for himself and his noble friends. There's no way I'd stick around to be his pawn. Still, just leaving like that wasn't right of me. I can understand why people would freak out. I'm sure Sora, Riku, and everyone worried themselves sick. Acting funny, huh. Since when has Sora ever not acted funny?" Both Naminé and Kairi giggled at this. "These past few months have just been so fun. I'm gonna miss all that, ya know."

"So we're going back."

"Of course we are. After we find Lea, Dyson, and Miranda and tell them what's happening, we're headed straight to Radiant Garden. First thing on the agenda is getting you and Roxas bodies, okay."

"Thanks." Naminé stood next to her and looked at the gate. "Say, how are we getting to the Realm of Light anyway? I have a feeling Maria won't help after giving us the boot like that."

Kairi smiled. "I'm sure the royal treasury has twenty million they could give us."

"You actually trust those guys?"

"Not completely. They obviously aren't the good guys but they aren't bad either. They're somewhere caught in between there. A word to describe them would be anti-heroes, maybe."

"Violent, selfish, reckless, rude, idiotic, and put very little value in other people's lives yet, at the same time not bloodthirsty, greed driven, or murderous: yeah, that's anti-hero." Naminé described.

"Anyway they want an answer."

"So let's give them one."

**Pieces**

Kairi returned to reality receiving curious stares from everyone except Jake. "You alright there, Umihana." Felix asked with a smile on his face.

"Twenty million munny, right?" Kairi looked Felix dead in the eyes.

"There's no munny back guarantee, ya know." Jake warned.

"I'm sure I can count on you."

"Are sure about this, Kairi?" Leon said.

"Without a doubt in my mind. Riku, you're in Daltus now?"

"Yeah, I'll tell Selphie and the others you're on your way."

"No, I want it to be a surprise."

"Okay then. Great to hear from you, Kairi."

"Same to you, Riku." Riku hung the phone leaving the airship silent. The only noise that could be heard was Yuffie throwing up due motion sickness.

**Pieces**

Sander laid on the couch with a bowl of popcorn sitting on the coffee table. Xia walked up behind him and asked, "Are going to look for Tiny any time soon?"

"Nope."

**Pieces**

_**Pieces character data log**_

**New**

_Name: Christine Lampae_

_Age: 6_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (darkness)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: music box_

* * *

_Name: Mickey Mouse_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (light)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Disney Castle-King_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Yen Sid_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (light)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Keyblade Master (retired)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Dick Stalwart_

_Age: 52_

_Abilities: none_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Radiant Garden-Prime Minister_

_Weapon: none_

* * *

_Name: Cid Highwind_

_Age: 43_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (light)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee-engineer_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Minnie Mouse_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (light)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Disney Castle-Queen_

_Weapon: none_

* * *

_Name: Maximillion Rite_

_Age: 23_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 12,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Maleficent-Temye_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_**Chapter 7 finished. If can't figure what Christine is a referance to you must not be into theatre. If you do not review, a disaster beyond your imaginations shall occur.**_

_**See Ya!**_


	8. Manipulation

Chapter * because I hit the shift key. Good guys, bad guys, whose side are you on. Read this and find out.

* * *

**Chapter eight**

"**Manipulation"**

Maria, who now wore a light blue beret, and Miranda sat on one side of the train booth while Lea, Sora, and Dyson sat on the other. The table was loaded with plates from lunch. While everyone else had gotten a simple platter Maria's order was one of everything, all of which had been eaten clean. "Talk about a black freaking hole." Roxas said with his transparent body standing next to her. "That explains all the food thefts back in Radiant Garden. A guy would go broke taking her out to dinner."

"Did you guys hear something?" Maria said looking around the car. Other than them and Maria's black furred wolf, Apollo, there was no one else in the car. Apollo looked up to Maria then laid back down on his belly.

"Sorry, but the rest of us are still trying to comprehend how you ate that much with so little room." Lea said looking at the pile of plates then at Maria's small frame.

"Shut up, Hanabi." Maria cleaned her mouth with a toothpick while scratching Apollo behind the ears.

"It's Lea, L-E-A. Got it Memorized?" Lea said tapping his temple.

"Hanabi, stop talking and listen."

"Why you little…" Lea was beginning to stand up when Roxas put his hand onto his chest.

"It's no good man. You can tell her your name all you like. She still won't remember it."

"Well then, Roxas, maybe you try possessing her and pound it into her head from the inside." Dyson was taking pictures of the mountains the train was passing through using a high resolution camera. "Who knows, we may figure out where Kairi is that easily."

"Shut up before you get yourself killed, Dyson." Miranda finished her plate and put her fork and knife aside. "If you ask me, this whole thing is fishy. Who in the world bother rescuing someone they don't know by breaking into a Faltian warship."

"We talking about Umihana."

"Her name is Kairi." Sora said correcting her.

"She's the same person. I think. You know, the Realm of Dawn has changed you for the worst. I mean, I thought your hero thing was pretty annoying, but now you're just acting like a jerk." Maria rested her chin onto her locked fingers. "But that's really unimportant to me. My concern is settling our little deal."

"We help with this job and, you tell us where Kairi is." Sora said disgruntled.

"You scratch my back I scratch yours. Now, let's get to the details. Mysterious creatures appearing out of portals have been are blocking the entrance to a mine. They mayor received saying they'd leave when they felt like it. Our goal is simple, really: search and destroy. Any questions?"

"These 'mysterious creatures' are the Heartless, right." Lea asked.

"Possibly. I didn't get any pictures so, I can't be sure. If they are, it's rather convenient you're here Mr. Keyblade Master. Seeing as those things are attracted to you, we can use that to pinpoint their base."

"Watch out, man. You're being used as bait." Roxas warned.

"Where the hell is that noise coming from?"

"When we destroy the Heartless, you'll tell me where Kairi is, right?"

"Umm, sure." Maria said with doubt in her voice.

"I've got question." Miranda took a drink of her pop before looking at Maria. "I doubt you work solo. Grey Spiral, they're an elite group of mercenaries, and they aren't small time either. Why would you have us help you out and not your own comrades?"

Maria shrugged, "Hell if I know. The old geezer in charge told if whoever takes it wants to get anyone else involved in this particular job it had to be from outside group. I originally planned to go by myself but, then you four showed up."

"In other words it was just convenient timing."

"Yep. But enough business talk. We've got another half an hour before we get to the village so, let's just chat. Anyone care to explain who the hell Roxas and Naminé are."

"They're former Nobodies who were reunited with their Somebody." Lea explained.

"Really, I thought they were just being possessed or something." Dyson was looking at his pictures. "No one explained what was going on. Naminé just started appearing one day."

"More like our senses just got used to her being there. It took about month for us to actually be able to talk to her." Miranda paused and looked at Lea. "How were you able to see her easily?"

"Oh yeah, I never explained. See, I used to be Nobody myself. Went by Axel back then." Lea chuckled. "I say 'back then' but, it hasn't even been a year since I got my heart back. Now what about you Sora? You're acting, well, assholish."

"Shut up." Sora said.

"_Something's seriously off here._" Lea thought to himself.

"Hoshi, stop brooding for a few minutes and enjoy yourself. You get to do what you do best, find your girlfriend plus see a great view." She paused and raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe me; do you? I'll admit there isn't much reason to trust me. I did make a go at your life. But, I was so impressed by the fight, I would have let you live even it had ended in my victory just for sake of having the chance to fight you again when we were stronger. It's much more fun to fight for the sake determining who's stronger than for a job."

"Is fighting just a game to you?" Sora asked not amused.

"When it's not a job, yes, it is fun." Maria leaned towards Sora smiling. Her eyes were narrow with some kind of feeling in them. It was not evil but, it was something that scared Sora. "Most doctors consider it some kind of mental issue to enjoy violence to the degree I do but, it's probably just the way I was raised. See, Hoshi, unlike you who was thrown into fighting magical creatures with a magic sword, I was forced to fight and get strong on almost my own. Death was a daily reality. Killing was something I did from a young age. There's pretty much no hope for me being normal. That's why I want to fight you again; to prove my strength obtained through hard work and endless trials is greater than the strength obtained from something like the Keyblade or destiny. That's what my heart commands."

Silence filled the car. The only sound to be heard was the train engine carrying its passengers along the track. Apollo looked up at Maria observing her facial expression carefully. He then looked at Sora who was lost in some kind of thought. Roxas attempted to pet his head but was barked at as a result. This resulted in the stares and subsequent laughter of everyone else except Sora. "Nice work Roxas!" Lea said in between chuckles. "Way to ruin the atmosphere!"

"He said 'Back the hell off before I bite your hand off'." Maria said. She got out of her seat vigorously scratched behind Apollo's ears earning happy licks from him.

"She understood the wolf, but she can't see me?"

"_She said all that stuff but right now…_"

**Pieces**

"…she seems normal." Sora stood on his platform looking out into the abyss. It was stain glassed with a picture of his younger self sleeping and holding the Keyblade. Circular images of Riku, Kairi along with others were also there.

"What are you saying, Sora?" Sora turned around saw the voice's source. A perfect silhouette of himself stood on the platform. It was perfectly white with white vapors rising from its body. Its eyes were blue dots. "That girl is the enemy. No matter how she may act she's what started this situation in the first place. Her actions not only created panic, they've opened the gates of new threats and powers that can be exploited by Maleficent."

"But she knows where Kairi is. Even if it is her fault she's trying to fix it at least."

"A mere rouse obviously. How does helping her guarantee she'll tell you where Kairi is? How do we know she won't make you do her jobs for months only to tell you she doesn't have a clue?"

"But if she's telling the truth, I could be passing on the only chance to find her."

"Then tie her down and make her tell you. You can do that much."

"I can but, will I?"

"Don't listen to him you idiot!" Another silhouette appeared. This one was black with yellow eyes. Vapors of darkness rose from its body. "He's just giving you crap about Kairi to make you do his bidding!"

"My bidding?" The silhouette of light responded. "I want what is best for the light. I know you felt it. A new force of darkness has been unleashed. We have to secure the seven princesses. We can't afford to let them be captured."

"And who says they'll be captured?" The darkness said. "We all know Kairi can fight for herself. Sure, she took a pummeling from Maria but, so did this guy."

"Another reason why you should eliminate her. She is a threat to the light that you have worked so hard to protect."

"Who the hell are you two anyway!" Sora summoned the Keyblade into his hands. "You've been showing up in my dreams and talking giving me so called advice!" He pointed at the light. "And you're obviously from the darkness. So, why should trust either of you!"

"Even if I'm from the darkness, I'm still part of you. If you die being stupid, which is what you're going to do at this right, I die along with you. How in the world would doing something that puts you in danger be beneficial to me?"

"I'm a part of you as well. I represent the light that refused to give up on. _He_ was formed at the time you became a Heartless. Isn't it clear that he is trying to drag you back into that existence?"

"You think I _liked_ being Heartless. Searching for hearts like a dog scrounging for garbage to eat, it was an absolute nightmare. I'd rather be trapped in here for all of eternity than go back to that."

"Sora! You must listen to me!"

"No, idiot! Listen to me."

"Sora!"

"Sora!"

"Sora! Sora! Sora! Sora! SORA! SORA! SORA! _SORA! SORA! SORA! Sora! Sora! Sora! Sora..."_

"Hoshi!" Maria's voice and finger snapping brought Sora back to reality. He had broken out into a cold sweat at the sound of the two voices raging back and forth at each other. "Where'd you go? We've arrived, Mr. Keyblade Master."

"I'm right here." Sora stood up from his seat and exited the train in a huff.

"Okay, I guess I missed something." Roxas said before disappearing in a golden light.

Maria let Miranda out of the seat and petted Apollo on the head. "Come on. We've got a job to do." Maria and the wolf left the car paying Sora little if any concern. Miranda pulled her large double-edged sword from the upper compartment and followed.

"What is wrong with him?" Lea said with a concerned voice. "Whatever it is let's just hope we can solve by finding Kairi. But, I doubt it's that simple."

Lea stepped off the train and onto platform with Dyson right behind him carrying his large backpack. The conductor tipped his hat and stepped back allowing new passengers to board. Maria and everyone were entering the train station. It was what you expected in a station: ticket booths, small food stands etcetera. Apollo seemed a bit antsy around all the people. What caught Lea's attention was the attention the group was getting from everyone else in the station. Most of them were tourists. "Why are they staring at us?"

"Let's see here." Miranda said sarcastically "Giant sword, giant backpack, a guy who dresses like a rock-star, and a girl with a pet wolf: we kind of stand out."

"I keep telling you, I've worn this thing for years." Lea said shaking his head. "If that idiot wants to use the company name for his music career he can go ahead and do it. More importantly, where are those Heartless. It's dangerous to let them run around freely."

"Excuse me but, did you just 'Heartless'." A red haired woman with freckled faced walked up to Lea. "Are you from Grey Spiral. If so, you need speak with my dad."

"Well, Miss…"

"My name is Harriet Stanford but, you can call me Harry."

"Okay, Harry, I'm sorry to tell you this but, the mercenary here is that girl." Lea pointed to Maria. "The rest of us are just here as accessories."

"Come on, Hanabi, you and Hoshi are worth more than that."

"And what about us?" Miranda asked. Dyson seemed unconcerned.

"Calm down, Diana. I'm just joking." Maria removed down her jacket to show her tattoo. Underneath was a sleeveless blouse. "Grey Spiral's crest right there."

"Right, my dad wants to speak to you about the Heartless."

**Piece**

Harry's father was a man pushing fifty with grays in his hair. His stone gray eyes looked into Maria's pink ones for a while. He had Maria and the others sitting at his kitchen table. "Are sure you can handle this?" He asked.

"And why do you think otherwise, Mr. Standard?" Maria said.

"It's Stan_ford_, and I was just expecting big guys with guns." He admitted. "You are a child. Those Heartless are blocking the entrance to the Mythril mines. Our village has been prosperous because of those mines not just for their rich ore but also the tourists they attract. Staking the people's livelihood on a child and her friends is just…"

"You can leave it me." Maria said. "I've been told that by lots of people. Half of them are dead from being killed by me or being killed because they blew me off. I guarantee the Heartless will be destroyed by the time we're done here. You have my word on that."

Stanford paused and thought. Maria looked like an ordinary teenage girl. But something in her eyes made Stanford see otherwise. "I'm still not convinced. I'll need a lot more than your word to place this matter in your hands."

"Daddy, you shouldn't be so doubtful." Harry said as she entered the room. "She wouldn't have been sent if she couldn't handle it."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to give them a chance." Stanford stood and began to leave the room signaling Maria and the others to follow. They followed him out the door and into the small town square. A hotel and town hall were the most prominent features accented by a little shops and houses. The roads were paved with cobblestone. Everyone looked cheery despite the situation the town was in. Some people were curious and wary of Apollo since he was a wolf.

After about twenty minutes they arrived at the mines. The main entrance was large and out lined with bricks. It had a large light in the cornerstone above the center of the entrance. A miner's station along with a gift shop for tourists was to the left of the gate. Orange safety cones were in a straight line across the road separating the mine from the rest of the town. Quite a few people looked onward at the group. "The moment anyone goes past these cones they get attacked by those Heartless. The person who's controlling them left a note saying they are inside the mines. If you get inside, get them and drag them out here." Stanford explained. "Either them or their corpse, that's what I want."

"Good, that means I don't have to hold back." Maria said. With no hesitation she, Sora, Lea, Miranda, Apollo, and Dyson stepped through the cones. As Stanford warned dark portals carrying Heartless opened up. The round bellied, blue Large bodies and the red clawed Soldiers appeared and landed on the ground. Blue Hook Bats floated around in the air. "You couldn't get passed these small fries. Guess there's no one worth fighting in this town." She tossed her jacket onto one of the orange cones.

Sora's Keyblade flashed into his hands as he glared at Heartless, his target of aggression. Two red and silver chakrams with spikes at the edges appeared in Lea's hands in bursts of red flames. He spun them around deftly earning the crowd's attention. Miranda pulled her massive sword from her back held it tightly in her left hand. Dyson began taking pictures.

Maria set her right hand on her hat and the other in her pocket. Five of the thirty Hook Bats flew at the group. Maria's image disappeared along one of the Bats. The cloud of darkness was on Maria's leg when she reappeared in the air ten meters away. Lea threw his chakrams at two Hook Bats and sliced right through them. They quickly returned to him destroyed the other two as well. Sora, Miranda and Apollo charged through towards the rest the hoard. Two of fifteen Soldiers threw themselves in an attack hoping to land kicks. Apollo jumped onto to then the other knocking them into the ground. Sora thrust his Kingdom Key through one them as it tried to stand back up and, Miranda did a downward slash on the other.

One of the five Large Bodies raised its huge fist in the air to punch Sora. Five Hook Bats of a lighter shade than the others rammed into the Large Body knocking it off balance before disappearing. Sora took full advantage knocking the Heartless' legs from underneath letting Miranda deliver a finishing blow to its back. Apollo fell through the dark remains of the Full Body with two Hook Bats under his paws and one being chewed on by his sharp teeth. They dissipated as Lea's chakrams flew by destroying two more Soldiers.

Maria sidestepped to her left evading one the Large Body's punches. She jumped onto its back then into air before kicking it in the back of the head. The Heartless landed on his huge round belly as Maria stopped in the air balancing herself on an invisible platform with one hand. She vanished then reappeared with her leg piercing the Large Body's torso. Before the darkness cleared another Large Body dropped down only to be caught above Maria's head. The ground around her legs cracked. Maria threw a kick straight up sending the Heartless into the air where it was stabbed in the back by Lea.

"Watch out!" Lea warned as another Large Body threw its belly in her direction. A large steel wall materialized in between Maria and the Heartless stopping it cold. When the wall disappeared Sora had his Keyblade in the Large Body's back slaying it and releasing a pink heart.

"I could've taken it." Maria said as she knocked a Soldier flying into two of its kin with the heel of her foot. Lea floated over head and slashed at the Hook Bats. One frantically spread fire to the others setting the sky ablaze. Satisfied, Lea threw one of his chakrams into the back of the final Large Body. The Heartless did not seem to notice as the weapons stuck in its back and merely scratched its head. Then Lea set it on fire sending the Large Body into a frenzy. It knocked its comrades around with its giant arm flailing. Everyone on the battlefield moved out of the way when they saw it coming allowing it to strike down the other Heartless for them. "Nice move, Hanabi!"

"It's Lea!" He shouted as he finished the Large Body with his second chakram.

"Try to give a compliment and, what d'ya get?"

At this point most of the Heartless had been eliminated. Sora took the last couple of Soldiers out with a few sweeps of his Keyblade and looked around satisfied with his and the other's work. Claps and cheers of praise came from crowd amazed by their feats of strength and skill. Dyson began getting good photos of the mine entrance while Maria walked up to Stanford. He simply nodded walked away through the crowd who were attempting to take pictures themselves. Maria disappeared.

Lea waved and smiled for the crowd enjoying the attention he received. Then something grabbed him by hood began dragging him into the mines. "Hey, let go of me!" He shouted.

"I'll let go when you shut up." Maria said pulling him along with ease.

Sora, Miranda, Dyson, and Apollo followed her into the mines waving back at the crowd as they did so.

**Pieces**

Maleficent had found herself looking in the rest of Black Phoenix's files and was rather intrigued by group in general rather than just Jake. Making entire military bases disappear was not something your average criminal could accomplish. She laid the file titled "Boneau, Simone" on the table next to her throne as a corridor of darkness opened.

"What's the point of having doors if you're just going to use the corridors to enter?" Rayn and Isa entered the room with fully bandaged wounds Rayn more so than Isa.

"Sorry, it's just so much easier." Rayn took a look around the throne room and noticed the hole in the wall. "What happened in here?"

"One of _your_ experiments went on a rampage." Maleficent said with slight irritation. "Next time make sure your abominations are a leash or in a cage."

"Oops, I'll take care of that right now" Rayn turned towards the large hole.

"Where is the Princess of Heart?" Rayn stopped and turned around with a smile on her face.

"The password is 'limelight'." Maleficent did not push the subject as Rayn exited with Isa in tow. They looked at the mess the monstrosity had caused earlier in the black, candle lit halls. The floor was charred, though this was hardly noticeable, and scratched up. Rayn grinned at the destruction that what she admitted to be failed experiment had caused. "Wait until it isn't a failure." She said quietly. "Say, Isa, can I ask you something?"

Isa raised an eyebrow. She usually cryptically answered his questions not ask them. "What is it?"

"What do have to gain by fighting for Maleficent?" She asked. "You've reclaimed your heart which was the only reason you joined Organization XIII, right? So why work as one of the Temnye?"

"I could ask the same of you. The loyalty you put up is false." Isa replied. "Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, is calling to me. I intend to usurp Maleficent's power and take Kingdom Hearts to create a world united under its moon, a world where the suffering of the Nobodies and Heartless cannot exist. It is a noble goal, yes?"

"Tch, you must be some kind of idiot." Rayn snickered. "Do really think it will miraculously work out like that. Peace through Kingdom Hearts will not work, it can't be done. Kingdom Hearts was created through war, destruction, and blood. That's what it will create if it is ever fully awakened. That's why the Door to Darkness and the Door to Light are kept shut. If one opens, the realm of its opposite will suffer." Servant of the Rain flashed into Rayn's hand. "Once the Door to Darkness is opened with the Keyblade we will be able to merge with Kingdom Hearts. First we'll restore the planets from which the realms were created. We will unite light and darkness into one. After that, we'll wipe Faltia off the map. We will create a state under one rule, stronger than any other the universe has ever known. It won't be anything like Faltia either. It will be just. We'll pick a ruler we know can keep peace without being a tyrant."

"And what happens to you? The entire world will hate you all for your peace. More importantly, do you truly believe the light will stand aside and let you do as you please?"

"I told this to Kairi and I'll tell it to you. Light can be as evil as the darkness Maleficent holds. The same goes for this Keyblade. Wielders of darkness and light have done great works of good and evil. They're weapons created to hurt others to protect something else. There are many who agree with me. Those are the ones I truly work for. Wielders, l'cie, and Access all fighting for the same cause. Maleficent is a fool for thinking such boundaries truly hold any value."

"So Maleficent is just pawn in the grand scheme of things."

"Exactly." Rayn dismissed her Keyblade and stopped walking to look straight at Isa prompting him to stop. "But where do you stand in all of this. What are you to us, an enemy or an ally?"

Isa turned and began walking in the opposite direction. "Perhaps you should consider your own position before asking about someone else's."

Rayn continued to walk down to the laboratory that had been set aside for her use, once again taking in the destruction the beasty caused. She arrived at another hole in a wall that went straight into the containment area of her labs. Unlike the rest of the castle which was candle lit, the labs were rigged with electric lights and other machinery. More of her experiments were held there eyeballing her. The forms varied on every level from size to shape to color. Some retained more of their human traits while others appeared to be more of Heartless. Some looked like Rayn had thrown two or more Heartless in a blender smashed together in the most awkward of ways with heads were feet should have been and vice versa.

She looked at her creations and smiled before her pink haired assistant ran up to her. She explained what had happened earlier in haste. "Samantha, what you're telling me is A-056 was destroyed?"

"Yes, Miss Rayn."

"Whatever, he wasn't that great anyway and, stop calling me miss it make me sound old." She walked deeper into the laboratory. "_Thanks to Maleficent's massive Heartless reserve I can conduct my experiments without a hitch. I'll find a way to create the perfect Heartless. Like Ansem, it will be able to think and act for itself; however, it will still be under our complete control. I won't have to about Isa spilling to soon yet either. He'll realize pretty quickly that we think alike in some ways._" Rayn fingered at small recorder in her hand. "_Still, I seriously underestimated those Black Phoenix bastards. To think that one of them took out Dilan and Knightshaker even in that limited of a state. They'll be a problem later. No, wait a minute. They have a beef with Maleficent not us. As matter of fact they've made a few deliveries for us in the past. As long as no one oversteps their boundaries there shouldn't be an issue._"

"Have you been listening?" Samantha asked. "I keep telling you that before you pull stunts like letting out a monster you need to prepare a stopgap, otherwise someone could get hurt or worse, killed. I was scared that Maleficent was going to destroy me."

"_It still baffles me what you saw in her._" Rayn thought as she rolled her eyes. "Maleficent won't destroy you. As far as she knows you're needed for my experiments. She's almost as gullible as Pete since she's been blinded by power. Now then, on to more important matters. Here's the data I collected from the Knightshaker." Rayn handed Samantha a flash drive and clipboard with notes and charts. "You can tell from the data that its legs had a huge leg to them. Also its overall power output was barely a fifth of what we predicted."

"Yes, I can see very clearly where the issue lies." Samantha said looking through the charts. "Fortunately it wasn't defeated by the Keyblade so we can revive it to see what cause these problems in the first place."

"Well let's get on that." Rayn put slung her own white lab coat over her shoulders like cape. "So, anything besides our little prank happen while I was away?"

"Actually I believe I've discovered the reason behind world specific Heartless and why some Heartless appear in certain worlds more than others." Rayn raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Do tell."

"You see Heartless that form in certain worlds have a tendency to take on the form of object in that world. For example the 'Cannon' series of Heartless are likely to appear in Port Royal because of the high amount of cannons there. The cannons affect the people hearts which in turn directly affects the world's heart. This essence, if you will, influences the light and darkness in the world."

"So when the darkness takes form as a Heartless, it takes the shape of a cannon because Emblem Heartless aren't fully consumed thus giving the hearts some influence of the way it takes shape." Rayn grinned in delight at this revelation. "In other words if we recreate the essence of a particular world we can control what Heartless are produce by a certain heart. I've got an idea but, we have more immediate business to attend to right now."

Samantha began typing at a console next to a large window. Looking inside said revealed an even larger room with strange pointed machines in the four top corners of the room and the center of the ceiling. "Heartless revival process beginning. Darkness seeker initiated." Samantha said continuing to type away. "Knightshaker located, beginning energy transfer sequence." The machines to give off a purple light which grew darker until they were lucid black. "Transfer complete, beginning reconfiguration." Darkness began pouring out of the machines contracting into a single point in the room. It formed a black heart which changed shape into the Knightshaker before growing to its original size. "Heartless revival process complete. Beginning magical analysis."

"_Fusing two Heartless together as one. Possibly my best idea yet._" Rayn thought as two hearts appeared on the screen.

**Pieces**

Riku and Shizuko stood on opposite sides of the roof of a tall skyscraper. Way to Dawn was in Riku's hand raised for combat. Shizuko stood with her right arm in the form of katana blade. She had removed her school shoes and replaced them with black knee high boots.

Mongram's multicolored moon shone down on them and everyone else on the roof with them. Those who observed included all those who had been involved in the Turk incident that morning. Along with them was Joshua Martin, Tatsuo's friend from school and four others from Red Oaks Academy. One of them was a largely built blond boy wearing an open trench coat that looked like its sleeves had been torn off, a l'cie named Snow Villiers. Next to him was his girlfriend, Serah Farron. Her light pink hair was in a pony tail on the left side of her head draping down onto her arm. A red –headed girl with pig tails named Oerba Dia Vanille and the silver haired Hope Estheim were also.

"May I ask why we're up where falling means instant death?" Hope said looking over the safety railing down at the streets. "Are we even allowed up here?"

"In order," Tatsuo responded rubbing his head, "This was closest place they could go at it without attracting attention and; the Gin group has partial ownership of this hotel, so yes."

"Lighten up, would ya." Snow smacked Hope in the back nearly causing him to lose balance. "You just got to eat at the fanciest restaurant in the city for _free_ and have been hanging out in one of the fanciest hotels. Tonight's a good night."

"Yeah, it's a _great_ night." Hope sarcastically mumbled rubbing his back.

"Snow, you hit him too hard." Serah reprimanded.

"I didn't hit him that hard."

"Yeah, he can't help." Josh said looking up at Snow's face. "That's what happens when six foot nine foot twelve."

Not too far from them Selphie was asking Cornel, who had changed into jeans and an orange jacket, some very serious questions. "So, you're like a real vampire?" Selphie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Yes, _you annoying, loud-mouthed bitch_."

"So, can you hypnotize people, or sparkle in the sunlight?"

"Thank whatever fucking divine being controls this fucked up world no. _But it's times like now that I wish I could hypnotize people_."

"Is there a vampire prince or king or something?"

"No. _It'd only be half lying to say 'me' but, I don't give a shit._" Selphie opened her mouth again. "Ask another question and I swear to fucking God I will kill you." Irritation filled Cornel's voice mixing with a twitching left eye.

Tidus stood next to Wakka observing Shizuko and Riku. They had yet to make move. "Suit wearing, dinner buying, hotel owning son of a…"

"Actually Tatsuo doesn't completely own this hotel." Sander was sitting on the ground with his left arm slung over the railing. "Technically speaking it's partially owned by the Gin group as a whole. Since he's a member, he has access to the hotel since he has partial ownership."

"Okay, I didn't understand a thing you just said, ya." Wakka said shrugging his shoulders. "But we get hang out here as long Tatsuo says alright, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Meaning you plan to mooch for while." Tidus and Wakka jumped from suddenness of Xia's voice. She balanced herself perfectly on Wakka blitzball which was not too difficult for her. "Not bad, this is pro grade."

"How'd you get that?" Wakka asked said seeing how his ball was being used as a circus prop.

"Aaaah!" Selphie's high pitched scream caught everyone's attention.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Cornel asked still annoyed.

"I wanted to see if anyone would think you're biting me."

Silence fell across the roof top. Everyone simply looked at Selphie until, "I'm gonna fucking kill this bitch!" Cornel's chains fell from his jacket. He lunged ready to tear Selphie apart. Then he stopped mid step holding his position perfectly, one leg in the air the other dug into the ground by the toes. He turned head and red eyes back. "Let go of me, Shizuko."

Her left hand was held out towards Cornel. The green haired boy was pulled back finding himself a few feet away from Shizuko. Selphie was pulled also landing near Riku. "If you want to fight you can. I don't mind two-on-two. What about you, Riku-san?"

"That's fine with me as long as you promise not to kill anyone."

"Wait a minute!" Tidus said brandishing Brotherhood. "If you guys are letting other people in, then I'm in too. Come on, Wakka."

"I'm good, ya." Wakka replied. "_This ain't gonna end well._"

"If you guys add me, that'll be three." Tatsuo said pulling his blade out. "But on a roof top, there's really not that much room with three-on-three. I'm mean if this was a street brawl sure but, we'd end up destroying it in our case. So how about rule change?"

"What kind of rules are we talkin'?" Riku asked.

"They're simple, really." Tatsuo walked over to edge of the building and pointed over to a mountainous area near the edge of Daltus. "Over there is a shrine. At the shrine's entrance is a bell with a red rope tied to it."

"Ring the bell first and we win, right." Tidus interrupted.

"If it were that simple, it just be a plain old foot race. You see team has to select one member to ring the bell. Only that person may claim victory. In the event that one side's bell ringer is incapacitated, a back-up may take his place in the match. Other than that, no bars held. Sound fair?"

Riku contemplated for moment. The rules themselves were fair. The only disadvantage they had was that Shizuko and the others knew the city but, that was pretty much neutralized by the fact that in was a straight shot to the shrine. There was also the fact that they would be doing this in a highly populated city. They were bound to cause trouble if lightning bolts and fire balls suddenly showed up in the sky especially considering the incident from earlier. Not to mention that one false step could very easily kill someone.

"I'm in." Tidus boldly stated. "And I'm the fastest so, I'll be the bell ringer."

"Tatsuo will be our team's." Shizuko said not letting emotion show in her face or voice.

Riku smiled. "Not getting much of a choice here am I?" He said pointing his Keyblade at Wakka. "Get over real quick. And bring your ball." Xia kicked the ball from under her feet and into Wakka's hands. "Wakka's gonna toss his ball into the air. When it hits the ground, we start."

"Fine then." Shizuko said returning her arm to its original form.

Wakka tossed his blitzball high into air above his head. Everyone except the two teams looked into the air staring at the ball. The second it hit the ground, Tidus was off jumping to the building closest to the one everyone else was on. Something caught and stopped him mid-leap pulling him back over the building. Shizuko raised her arm and threw Tidus overhead causing him to land on the other side of the roof. "What just happened?" Tidus asked as he got back onto to his feet. Shizuko turned around and balled her hand into a fist. Tidus's arms were pulled to his sides forcing him to drop Brotherhood. His clothes were cut through very finely as well as his skin allowing some blood to ooze out. "This is the same ability you used a second ago on Cornel."

In the moment of confusion Tatsuo had leapt to the other building. Selphie used Rapture on herself to follow him as Cornel warped away. Riku swung at Shizuko who blocked with her left arm which had been turned into steel claw with long talons. She pivoted on her left foot swing Tidus along her. He began to loop around Riku who put his Keyblade in front of himself vertically. Instead of simply wrapping around Riku's torso, Tidus swung around him and the Keyblade creating a gap in between the two.

"Figured it out that quickly, I'm impressed." Shizuko smiled as Riku ducked and rolled letting go of Way to Dawn, this action resulting in Tidus falling to the ground.

"Threads." Way to Dawn flashed back into Riku's hand. "You turn part of your body into threads then grab your target with them. They're so thin they can barely be seen by the naked eye but, in the moonlight…" Riku used his Keyblade to pick some the thread. He raised them up where they glistened in the light.

"They're called 'Kandata's Thread.' The Buddha took pity on a thief in Hell for saving the life of a single spider in the forest." The threads took hold of Way to Dawn and sent it and Tidus an entire building over. "He lowered the spider's thread into Hell to give Kandata a chance to reach heaven. Naturally others tried to climb up but, he told them that the string was his and, it broke. There are plenty of abilities that allow the user to change their own body but, among them my Doppelganger is at the very top, the Fifth Level."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Maybe." Shizuko lunged at Riku with her left hand being caught by the re-summoned Keyblade. "_Tetsu-ko!_" A steel fist landed on Riku's face sending him flying across the roof.

"Yeah, I know how that feels." Snow complimented recalling the day he first met Shizuko.

"And I know how it feels to be the guy who got flattened by the guy who took it." Josh reminded.

"Come man, that can't be all you got." Wakka said as Riku shook his head trying to see straight. "She's got a mean right hook… and left claw so, just don't let your guard down alright." Wakka gave a light shove as Riku got to his feet. "_This so ain't endin' well._"

Riku created a ball of darkness and threw at Shizuko. She turned her right arm into a double-edged sword and sliced through the ball. Out of came a blinding light stunning Shizuko and forcing her to cover her eye. Way to Dawn slashed at Shizuko through the light. She side stepped still getting cut on the shoulder. Riku continued his attack rapidly slashing his Keyblade. Shizuko had very little time to dodge but, she managed to avoid major damage and only received minor cuts. Finally she ducked and did a sweeping kick at Riku's legs. Knocked off his feet, Riku was pushed upward by Shizuko's hand then kicked in the side by her shin.

They both got to their feet. "_Dark Aura!_" Riku fired multiple shots of darkness forcing Shizuko to duck and swerve away. She destroyed the last one with her fist by the time Riku had his next attack ready. "_Dark Aura: Bombardment!_" From one large orb came a flurry a smaller ones flying towards Shizuko. She moved backwards to put some distance between herself and the source but, still was hard pressed to avoid the attacks. Ducking, side stepping, and back rolling were required to avoid the blasts but, even then she still was grazed.

Eventually Shizuko was pushed against the safety railing as Hope ran away to avoid being caught in the attack. She grabbed the railing with both hands and flipped herself over it out of the attacks line of fire. Riku looked warily as Shizuko flipped back up. Everything except her left leg was visible. It came up afterwards about thirty feet longer than it had been before. At the apex, her boot turned into a lead cylinder. It dropped down hitting the ground full force as Riku regained balance from the sudden dodge. The rest of Shizuko's body followed with a steel hammer for an arm. Riku barely ducked in time fearing another blow to the head. A golden energy built up in his left hand before pressed against Shizuko's back. "_Sunrise Wave…_"

All the spectators were dazzled as the light of dawn engulfed Shizuko. She flew backwards with arm and leg returned to their normal states. When she landed, she immediately closed her left hand. "_Kandata's Greed!_" The cuts were deeper than when she used the skill against Tidus resulting in more blood. Riku grunted in pain as the threads dug into him but kept a grip on Way to Dawn. "You give, Riku-san?"

"Not a chance." A beam of pure light shot out of the keyblade. Shizuko released the threads and stepped away but, was still grazed on the side. She clutched the wound but refused to let the pain show on her. "I know Access are weakened by pure magical energy. Here's a fair warning: I have plenty more where that came from."

"Because that's supposed to frighten me." She replied in an amused tone. Shizuko moved her hand from the spot where the light had hit. The wound was fully healed not even scarring. "As long the matter from cells is still there, I can heal wounds like that with ease." That is when Riku took a good look at Shizuko's body. All the injuries he had inflicted had vanished or rather had been repaired. Even her clothing had been fixed. "It's not nearly powerful as the 'Regeneration' ability and consumes a lot of energy but, I have to use against a weapon like the Keyblade."

She charged at Riku without doing any transformation. "_She must have to say 'a hell of a lot' since she's going with energy conservation fighting tactics._" Riku dodged a jab from the left and thrust with his Keyblade. His wrist was caught in Shizuko's right hand before he recieved hit from the inside of his arm in between his bicep and triceps. A sharp pain coursed through Riku's arm as he was flipped onto his back landing on his back with a thud. Before he knew it, Riku's arms and legs were pinned by Shizuko long, black hair and a bladed arm was at his neck. "Well that was stupid of me." He said admitting his defeat with smile.

"That ended way better than I thought." Wakka thought loud.

**Pieces**

"Those shitheads don't even care about the race anymore, do they?" Cornel said to Selphie. Other than a few cuts and bruises they were pretty much unharmed. They sat at the entrance of the temple observing Tatsuo and Tidus fight rather than ring the bell.

"_Energy Rain._" Beams of magical energy flew out of Brotherhood as Tidus jumped into the air. I was intercepted by lightning resulting in an explosion. When the dust cleared, it was clear both that had been fighting the whole way there. Both of them were covered in cuts and burns. Tatsuo's suit was in tatters with holes and rips in multiple places.

"This was a ten thousand munny suit!" Tatsuo shouted as began to run at Tidus.

"Who the fuck pays that much for clothes!" Tidus asked as their blades clashed. Tidus moved Brotherhood down catching the perfectly straight Zatoichi with its hook. He twisted and threw the blade away only to be struck in the head by its sheath.

"People who care about style, that's who." Tatsuo sent an electric current into Tidus shocking him then kicked him in the stomach. He quickly retrieved his sword and blocked an attack from Tidus.

"Are you saying I don't know about fashion!" Tidus got another cut into Tatsuo's suit.

"If the miss-matched fits, wear it!" Tatsuo sliced into Tidus's side.

"At least I can drive." Both of them jumped back standing of against each other.

"What!" Tatsuo shot a lightning bolt from his blade.

"You heard me!" Tidus dodged the attack nimbly. "You have someone drive for you. I can drive myself."

"I can so drive. See!" Tatsuo pulled out his driver's license which had been stained in blood.

"God knows how the fuck he got that." Cornel commented. "He's the shittiest driver I've ever seen."

"So basically you're too scared to drive. Or is it that oyabun doesn't trust you with the car keys."

"What are they so angry about anyway? This was supposed to be friendly." Selphie asked.

"Please tell me you're just fucking with me." Cornel said watching the fight continue.

**Pieces**

Maximillion half watched the television that showed Tatsuo and Tidus fighting and half kissed the brunette woman in his lap on the neck who wearing a bra and mini skirt. "_Guys like me don't belong on the front line._" He thought to himself as he kissed the woman's shoulder losing interest in the fight.

**Pieces**

Sora looked down at his left forearm and more importantly the knife that was going through it. It had gone in between the bones and pierced through to the other side. "_Shit!_" Roxas said feeling the pain as well. "_A few inches lower and that would've been a fatal hit._"

Looking around the large mine shaft, it was clear everyone else had been hit as well, Miranda in her arm, Lea in the leg, and Maria through her right hand shielding her physical heart. Dyson, however, was not as fortunate. A knife handle stuck out of his stomach letting blood spill out onto the floor. He put his hand over the wound and fell to his knees.

A man stood at the fork of the shaft. A black cape hung loosely from his neck. A white button up shirt was tucked into black pants. "Eliminate the most dangerous knowns first then strike down everything else. That's my policy for fighting." The man said with a conceited tone. "The most dangerous ones here are the Keyblade master, the 'Fourth Reality' user, and the 'Vector: Apollo' user. How do the rest of you wish to be ranked?"

Apollo snarled ready to attack the man at any moment. "I'm flattered that you think that way." Maria said. She then grabbed the knife am forcefully pulled it from her hand. Blood splashed onto the floor. "But just because you know our abilities doesn't mean you can win. Apollo, get Russell out of here and to a doctor." She threw the knife at the man with all of her might sending it faster than the eye could see. Before it hit, it bounce backwards landing on the ground.

"You just don't seem to understand who you're up against." The man flamboyantly opened his cape revealing its red inside. "I am Jamison Marquis of the 'World Dissolve,' a Fifth Level Piece that will eradicate you all! Observe." The knives vanished into thin air leaving behind no trace. Then a large boulder appeared over Apollo as he carried Dyson on his back. Miranda quickly sprung up and sliced the boulder in two. Lea knocked it away using his chakrams letting Apollo escape to the mines' exit.

"How about I eradicate _you_?" Miranda said as the boulders halves disappeared. Her sword changed shape turning into an assault rifle. The barrel came from the slightly above the mid section of the blade where the lower half had dropped down. The cartridge came down behind the point at which the front of the blade lowered along with the trigger. Miranda pulled opening fire on Marquis. All the shots were deflected by some wall.

"What's with this guy?" Lea asked looking at him. "What the fuck kind of power lets someone make things appear whenever they want."

"You're Axel, aren't you?" Marquis asked.

"I _was_ Axel. What of it?"

"Well then, I suppose capturing especially will put me in good graces." Marquis laughed to himself. "Fifth Level Pieces stand high above any other abilities. Facing me without the aid of that boy's is foolish. Surrender now or be killed right here. I present you with that option."

"You know …" Maria said putting up fist up. "This guy pisses me off more than he scares me."

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Lea "Axel: The Flurry of Dancing Flames" / "Number XII"_

_Age: 24_

_Abilities: Power of the heart (darkness) _

_Imperial Bounty: 23,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: chakrams- Eternal Flames_

* * *

_Name: Miranda Walsh_

_Age: 19_

_Abilities: none_

_Imperial Bounty: 20,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: Gunblade –M16 model_

* * *

_Name: Dyson Boll_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: Piece- "Fourth Reality"_

_Imperial Bounty: 13,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: photographs_

* * *

_Name: Samantha Pons_

_Age: 28_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Joshua Martin_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix (unofficial)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Snow Villiers_

_Age: 16_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix (unofficial)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Serah Farron_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix (unofficial)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Oerba Dia Vanille_

_Age: 15_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix (unofficial)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Hope _

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix (unofficial)_

_Weapon: ?_

* * *

_Name: Jamison Marquis_

_Age: 32_

_Abilities: Piece-"World Dissolve"_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Maleficent_

_Weapon: multiple_

**Updates**

_Name: Maria Hunter_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Piece-"Vector: Apollo"_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Grey Spiral _

_Weapon: none_

* * *

_Name: Rayn_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness_

_Imperial Bounty: 53,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: ?_

_Weapon: Keyblade_

* * *

Whose side is Rayn on? I'm not completely sure yet. Did you know people seriously $1000 for a suit? Read, review, tell your friends, and put this in your favorites. Seriously, review. Please.

See Ya!


	9. Dark Light

_**Okay two things I wanna put here. First, I thinking about starting my own KH forum. If you want details PM me. Second keep an eye out for Kingdom Hearts: Fatalities coming soon to a fandom near you. Enjoy.**_

* * *

**Chapter nine**

"**Dark Light"**

Sora threw the flame enveloped Keyblade at Jamison Marquis only to hit the barrier that was shielding him. "Pitiful." He said as he snapped his fingers. An explosion occurred knocking Maria and Sora off their feet and onto the ground. Then a boulder appeared above them falling in an instant. Sora pushed himself out of the way avoiding being crushed. Maria, however, stayed underneath catching the boulder over head. "My, aren't we a little gorilla girl?"

"Shut that fucking annoying mouth of yours!" Maria heaved the boulder over her head and towards Marquis.

"What a potty mouth you have." The boulder disappeared in mid-air but, Miranda and Lea came from the sides. "A feint attack, how pointless." Both of them were engulfed in explosions upon making contact with the barrier. "What will it take you see that defeating me is an impossibility?" He looked at the sole of Maria's foot which was only a few feet away from him.

"For starters you cannot make those shitty rhymes." Maria said jumping away. "Hoshi, do have you any idea what this guy's ability is?"

"Isn't that your job?" Sora said somewhat irritated. "You're both Access. You should be able figure this out a lot easier than I should. And if you haven't noticed this guy has a whole bunch of abilities."

"What are you saying, Keyblade Master?" Marquis asked with a stuck up look on his face. "That would be like cheating. Believe me I have no need to cheat. Not mention it's impossible. Access can have no more than one Piece. That is the single principle. I suppose that's a fair enough hint."

"He's right." Maria confirmed. "No matter where you look, you won't find anyone with more than one Piece. To put it simply, an Access only has one ability."

"This guy is creating explosions and knives at will. I wouldn't consider that one ability. And what about you? Super speed, barriers, fire, standing in mid-air, invisibility; it looks you have plenty of abilities yourself. " Jamison snickered at Sora's frustration.

"It's that line of thinking that prevents people from defeating Fifth Level Pieces." Miranda chimed in from a Corridor of Darkness. She stepped out with new burns on her skin. "What seems like having multiple Pieces is actually having multiple skills with a single ability. For example a person who can manipulate heat can create the impression that they have a wind based ability by altering air pressure using the heat. Maria here has plenty of skills but, they all come back to one ability. When fighting an opponent like this one you have to think with that in mind."

"In other words just let Roxas think about it while we try to find a weak spot with good old guess and check." Lea said spinning his chakrams around.

"Why do I have to figure it out?" Roxas appeared in a golden light completely invisible to Maria and Marquis.

"Because you don't have a body thus can't do much of anything else." Maria said.

"Wait! You can hear me now!" Roxas shouted.

"I guess I can but, that's really not important right now."

"Are you finished with your little strategy meeting?" Marquis waved his cape in an over exaggerated manner. "Then it's time for you to die!" Knives rained down on them immediately. They stuck into the ground where their targets had moved from before disappearing. Lea threw his flaming chakrams at Jamison and Miranda unloaded her rifle. Both of their attacks were deflected by the barrier. "Perhaps I should show you how to shoot a gun." Two Mark XIX Desert Eagles appeared and floated in mid-air. Marquis lifted his arms as though he were holding the pistols. He 'pulled' on the triggers and the guns fired. Miranda blocked with her weapon transformed into a sword and slashed at the pistols. They vanished before contact was made.

"Motherfucker…" She muttered as she brought back her blade in a defensive position.

Sora looked around the shaft trying to find some kind of clue. When he could not think of an idea he decided to follow Lea's advice and find a weak point. Fire had failed already. "_Blizzaga!_" A large shard of ice flew from tip of the Kingdom Key. It shattered to pieces against the barrier putting a smile on Marquis's face. "If that didn't work…" Sora raised the Keyblade in the air his head. Light built up in it charging at the tip. "_Thundaga!_" A powerful, yellow bolt of lightning fell down on Marquis obscuring him from view.

When he was visible again his arms were over his head in a defensive posture. He quickly relaxed and smiled again as arrogantly as before. "I'll admit you caught me off guard but, it's nothing 'World Dissolve' can't handle."

"Then how about this." Maria stood in the air over Marquis with her right leg raised above her head. A magenta orb appeared around it. "_Flash Cannon!_"Her entire leg and its path became a beam of light extending down towards Jamison. The impact sent a shockwave through the mine shaft hurtling dust into the air. The caped man did not flinch but, he did close and shield eyes from the incredibly bright light. "Come the fuck on." Maria said as she brought her Vector back to her leg.

"A light speed kick, I would've died if that had hit." Marquis said as he revealed his eyes. "However, a real cannon much more effective in my opinion." As his words dictated a real cannon appeared in front of Maria and fired at her stomach. The smoke engulfed her torso as she was knocked higher into the air. Pain was visible on her face as the air was forced out of her lungs.

She hit the ceiling with a thud before the cannon ball disappeared sending her to the ground. Before she landed she was caught in Sora arms. Her shirt was torn apart where the cannon ball had hit revealing her naval. Sora could not help but to notice a piercing. "_What the hell are you doing, Sora?_" The voice of light said in the back of his mind. "_This girl is our enemy. Now is the chance to finish her off._"

"I won't do it." Sora said as Maria forced herself out of his arms.

To everyone's surprise she stood upright on her feet. "Damn it. I need to stop wearing my good shirts on jobs." Maria said looking at her exposed skin.

"What a persistent little girl." Marquis said amused by the sight. "If a cannon doesn't work, perhaps a few explosions will."

**Pieces**

Roxas watched from the inside of Sora's heart. He was sitting on a red chair with images of multiple Keyblades embroidered in it. Before him were multiple clips of the battle from Sora's view point. In the center was a large rectangle image showing everything Sora saw in real time. "You've got to be shitting me." Roxas said scrutinizing as much information as he could. "Creating objects out of nowhere then erasing them, controlling things from a distance, a barrier, causing explosions at will, throwing things without even touching them; this isn't like any ability we've faced before.

"Could he really be using magic? No, we would have sensed it by now." Roxas put his hand to the side of his head. "Everything we throw at him just gets bounced off by that barrier. If anything, I've got to get past that barrier. The only time he seemed worried about it was when Sora used 'Thundaga.' But the barrier held perfectly didn't it? Why would he lose confidence even for a second? What if it wasn't his barrier? What if someone else was the one who created it? One Access can only have one Piece. If that's true then 'World Dissolve' must be…"

**Pieces**

"… invisibility." Roxas said smiling.

"What? How can that cause all this?" Lea said recovering from an explosion.

"It can't. But it can hide the guy who can."

"I see." Maria raised her knee to her waist and began looking around. "Hanabi, cover me."

"It's Lea, got it memorized?" He said setting his chakrams on fire.

"What are blabbering about." Marquis said passively. "I've grown bored of this. I suppose it's time to finish you off."

He snapped his finger and knives rained down on them. Lea's ckakrams deflected all of them. Then Maria's leg turned into a beam fired at the nucleus of the knives' point of origin. Marquis dignified look disappeared from his face as something hit the ceiling of the shaft cracking the stone. Maria's Vector pushed something upward until she relaxed her muscles letting it drop to ground. "We win."

"So that was it. We were looking at this the wrong way." Miranda said as a blond woman appeared on the ground. A pool of blood was pouring from her mouth and nose. "Damn, I think you ruptured her organs."

"Talk about a cheap trick." Lea opened a corridor next to himself and another behind Marquis who had a look of terror on his face. Lea pulled Marquis by the cape and onto the ground. "Now it makes sense. Your 'World Dissolve' allows you to completely hide everything and everyone's presence, with exception of yourself that is. And her Piece could teleport objects like grenades and knives wherever she wanted."

"Your so called 'barrier' is probably just a dome of metal you made invisible." Maria added. "While we had our attention on you, your woman was able to attack us she pleased: a fake Fifth Level Piece." Marquis slowly backed away scuffling against the stone floor. He felt his partner's blood on his hands as he moved but ignored it in fear of his own life. Maria had sadistic smile on her face. Her hand next to her head with her arm contracted. "I know you're not alone. A weak cowardly person like you could never control the Heartless. Tell me where the person who's really in charge is and I'll let you live. Either that or I chop your head off."

Marquis was backed against a wall both figuratively and literally. "The right shaft, we dug it out after we occupied the mine." He said quivering. "That woman, please, don't let her come close to me. She'll kill me!"

Maria giggled at Marquis enjoying the fear on his terrified face. "Good news in that case." Her hand glowed magenta. "You won't live long enough for her to kill you. Have fun in hell."

Sora grabbed Maria's wrist restricting her from dealing the final blow. "That's enough. We won already. Leave him alone."

Maria kept her eyes fixed on Marquis. "Well, well, is the hero returning to us, Hoshi?" She asked retaining her smile. "Taking pity on your enemies is a genius way to get killed. I suggest you remember that; it might just save your life one of these days. Or are you just too nice to accept that?" Sora was effortlessly thrown and landed a few meters away.

"All that strength means nothing if you use against the weak." Sora stood on his feet and summoned the Keyblade back to his hands.

"And what do you think he's done. He used a fake ability to kill, steal and all that good stuff. Do think this is first time it's happened."

"Killing him would you make just as bad he is."

Maria pivoted on her left foot eying Sora with the same glare from the train: scary yet not evil. "Are you saying I was ever any better? Right and wrong, good and evil; the line is so blurred in this world that's it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. Do you know why? It's because everyone sees the world differently. The view of this world can range from the very bottom of the darkest trench in the universe to very top of tallest mountain. Those at the bottom of the trench despise everyone because everyone looks down them. Those at the top of the mountain are arrogant and look down on everyone.

"But are they evil? When one gets higher someone else gets lower. So naturally the ones at the mountain top push others lower to keep themselves higher. They see others as scum and less deserving. Now let's look at the bottom of the trench. We are desperately trying to climb higher see what else the world has. We hate those at the top for way they look us. Yet they fear us because we have the most ambition. We are ones who can and will defy them."

Her smile dropped and she held her hand out to Marquis. "Hoshi, you see the light at the top of mountain and believe your justice is right. Let me tell you something. No one, no matter how they view the world, has the perfect justice. Some believe executions are inhumane; I think that's a load of bullshit." A small red beam shot out of the magenta orb and hit Marquis. His shirt caught fire causing him to cry in fear and pain. The cape followed then his pants. Finally Marquis's screaming body was covering in flames. He rolled around attempting to douse the flames but to no avail. Marquis reached his hand begging for help but dropped it. He was dead, burned alive joining his partner where ever she had gone.

"Do you consider that murder, Hoshi?" Maria began to walk down the shaft to the right. "I hope you realize there are many in this world who would consider it justice." Marquis's body burned out leaving a pile of blackened ash and flesh. "Those who kill should be prepared to die. That's what I think. Now then, let's get going; we've got a job to finish."

Sora looked at her back as she continued into the mines. Maria's hands were busy wrapping bandages around the wound in her hand. She coughed into her hand and smeared red onto her jeans. Lea and Miranda moved slowly down the shaft looking at Sora as they past. He began walking with a blank expression on his face. The two voices, however, raged in his head ceaselessly.

**Pieces**

"Justice? What does that girl know about justice? She's stolen and killed herself." The light said. "What right does she have to pass down justice?"

"As if you, oh holy light, have that right." The darkness replied. "I agree with that bitch. No one will ever be in agreement on what justice is. The one whose justice matters is the one with the most power to impose it. Don't play dumb. That's what you're after isn't: the power to eradicate darkness and impose your justice."

"I am not after that power. For you see, I _am _that power." Light circled the platform and stopped next to Kairi's image. "This girl is but an extension of my power. Unfortunately she's far too independent for my purposes. I have already made plans to eliminate her later on and hope that the next vessel is a bit more, compliant if you will."

"In other words, you want a puppet you can use to fight for you."

"No, that puppet is Sora. I'll perform the process that resulted in the near creation of the X-blade then lock you and Roxas up somewhere so you can't cause any interference. Don't take it personally but, it must be done."

"If I had a mouth I'd be grinning ear to ear right now." If the light silhouette had eyebrows, he would have been raising them. "Do you really think you pull this off with a few fancy tricks and dead bodies? If you do, you've got shit for brains."

"The thing is it's not just a few. There are those in the light who see the darkness for the evil it truly is. These people are the ones who help me purify this world. They are the ones who will bring about true justice."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that." Both silhouettes turned to the empty space from which Roxas's voice came. Nothing was there in the never ending abyss. "I mean, it may very well be that those who agree with you have their own thoughts in mind." Roxas sat in the center of the stain glass platform comfortable in his chair.

"How did you get here? Even Sora cannot enter into this place of his heart." The light pointed out.

"Well, there are parts of Sora I can't enter but, he can. Common sense should have told you the opposite is true." Roxas grinned and looked at the darkness. "As annoying as this guy can be sometimes, I have to take his side. From the sound of it, your plan would involve getting some innocent people and some close to me killed. I can't go along with something like that. Besides, when I finally get out of here, I'd like to be able to do as please."

"And by that you mean find a way to bring back Xion." The light chided. "I have equal access to both Sora and your memories. It's only natural I knew of her. Reviving her would be crippling yourself, Roxas. She draws power everyone connected to Sora especially you due the nature of her creation."

"Something tells me, it will be different this time." He said smiling. "_How does he know how Xion already?_"

"There is nothing that can be hidden from me." The light dispersed then reformed behind Roxas's chair. Roxas's grip on the arms tightened as he realized even his most inward thoughts could be heard. "It's only natural I know about Xion. I simply looked at your memories. I am light itself. The purpose of my existence is to destroy the evil known as darkness. I cannot allow someone like Xion or Lea for that matter to exist."

"In that case why are we still here?" The darkness asked.

"Direct with the questions. I suppose there's no point in hiding it from you. Seeing as you two are a part of Sora, destroying you would cause his heart to collapse. We cannot have that."

Roxas stood up from his chair walked to the edge of the platform. "Come on, Roxas. Since when has reasoning with the weird voice ever worked out?" Two Keyblades flashed into his hands. In his left was the black Oblivion with a chain pattern running up the center. Its hilt was decorated with black demon wing and a black version of Sora's necklace. The teeth were shaped into the Japanese symbol for darkness. His right held Oathkeeper. It had a two pronged shaft. The front bent into a heart at the end and the back made the teeth into the Japanese symbol for light. Its handle had angelic wings in contrast to Oblivion. A five shell charm served as the keychain. "Beating them until they shut up is a lot more effective."

"Fighting me? Do think that is wise?" The silhouette asked. The Kingdom Key flashed in its hands taking Sora's crouching stance.

"It's a lot wiser than letting you go free!" Roxas charged at the light and swung Oblivion at its head. The light bent backwards nimbly avoiding the attack. It kicked Roxas's jaw causing him to step back. Before he realized it, Roxas was swept off his feet and tossed into the air. The Kingdom Key was planted into the platform. Roxas looked around for his opponent but, his body locked up. He was forcefully flipped around and faced the orb in the light's hand. It engulfed him shining a bright pure light as Roxas lost his vision.

The orb dispersed in multiple streams of flowing light that changed colors as they moved before disappearing into the abyss. Roxas dropped down into the stain glass image, his clothes in tatters and his Keyblades released from his grip. He landed hard snapping back to consciousness. "That was just plain pathetic." The darkness mocked.

"Like you could do any better." Roxas picked his weapons up and looked at the light who was floating in the space above him.

"At least I didn't charge in guns blazin'."

"Are you going to even try to work together?" The light floated back down softly landing. "Stay down like good boy and, you won't be harmed any further."

**Pieces**

Outside, the party had reached another open chamber in the mines. Digging equipment as well as iron support beams rested there. An opening was on the other side. "You can come out." Maria said. "You're the one controlling the Heartless in this area, right?" The response was a high pitched laughter. "That's gonna get annoying."

"I know how you feel." Lea said summoning his chakrams. "Been a while, huh, Larxene."

"I've been waiting to hear your voice Axel." A blond haired woman wearing the Organization coat and boots set walked from behind a pile of support beams. Her hair rested flat against her head and back with the exception of two antennae like projection on either side. "I'll enjoy making you scream in pain for double crossing us."

"First of all, it's Lea. Commit it memory. How is Marluxia by the way?"

"He got killed by this crow kid about two months ago. Can you believe it?" Maria raised an eyebrow as Larxene ranted. She could not help but to smile at the mention of Felix.

"Even with a heart you still don't regret his death. Are you cold or what?"

"Well then I suppose you can join this Marla guy in the afterlife." Maria said slowly rolling her neck around. "When I'm through ya, you'll wish you'd just let that bird brain kill you."

"Hey, she's my ex-colleague." Lea interrupted. "I know her powers. I should be the one to take her."

"Yeah, well I called it so, there." Maria walked down the center of the chamber facing Larxene. "Besides, I may as well do that idiot a favor and finish you off for him. I'm sure he didn't just let you walk away." She smiled staring Larxene down.

Larxene laughed much to Maria and everyone else's annoyance. "Finish me off? That little boy wasn't able to lay a finger on me. How do expect to…" Before another word left her mouth, Maria's hands had gripped her coat and arm. Larxene was expertly tossed into a wall by the time she realized what was happening.

"I think I'm off to a good start." Sora, Miranda, and Lea ran past her and into the other chamber.

"Don't get yourself killed, alright." Lea said mockingly.

"No promises." She replied amused.

Larxene stood up clearly angered by Maria's surprise attack. "Little bitch…" Electricity sparked in her hands and produced eight yellow and blue knives in between her fingers. "I can't stand that Maleficent hag but, the gig itself is pretty nice. Killing you then Axel then the Key bearer, today's my lucky day." Maria's long leg went through Larxene's stomach before her entire body went out of existence. The wall had multiple cracks near the point of impact. Maria twisted her body and put the other foot on the wall evading the electrically charged knives that had been thrown at her. She jumped upward at light speed but stopped herself from flying into the electrical barrier surrounding Larxene. The blond threw a jab with knifed hand which was dodged and countered with a wide arced kick. Larxene teleported away and then delivered a kick of her own to Maria's side.

She dropped to the ground landing on one hand then balancing herself with the other. Larxene moved in for a killing strike but relented when one of Maria's legs dropped down in front of her. "_It's_ _been a while since someone could keep up with my speed._" She stepped forward on her right hand and pivoted swinging her leg around. Larxene jumped upward then came back down knives first. Bolts of lightning streaked her path as Maria pushed herself back with her arms. A magenta vector coiled around Larxene's torso preventing her from moving. Maria swung her leg, uncoiled the vector, and sent Larxene spinning through the air and into a pile of support beams.

She got back on her feet and felt the sting from cuts she had received on her face. The magic burned worse that than the cut itself. Her body was rejecting it wholeheartedly. Larxene was not doing any better. Blood streaked down from the side of her head to the bottom of her chin. In her hands, jolts of electricity jumped from one knife to another. Maria's fists and feet began to glow magenta as she drew her body into a tightened stance. "Killing me then Hoshi then some other guy I haven't heard of, you talk a whole lot of shit but, I wonder how much of it you can back up."

"Wait and see." Maria immediately swung her arm ripping through a copy of Larxene that had appeared behind her. She followed with a kick to the Larxene she had just been speaking to only to eliminate another copy. The real Larxene floated in midair. Lightning flew from her hands catching and lifting the iron beams. She flung them at Maria who avoided them all but one which she caught and moved into the air herself. Maria stood on seemingly nothing holding the support in both arms. She jumped even higher heaving the beam down on Larxene. It was stopped and thrown away by electrical as Maria dived for a kick to the stomach. Her foot connected sending Larxene into on the mine walls.

Maria's left leg glowed magenta preparing to deal the final blow. The beam of light crashed into the wall leaving huge cracks and knocking stones out of place. She waited for the dust to settle and expected to see Larxene's corpse embedded into the stone. All she saw was a crater at the sight of impact.

Larxene floated behind Maria with a large orb of electricity over head and fresh blood on her chin. Maria dropped down as the orb flew by. Four knives stuck into the ground around her and shot electricity into the air. Four more encircled the air space around her creating an electrical barrier.

"Shit…" Maria said as she poked the barrier immediately retracting her hand. She winced more at Larxene's laughter than the pain from the shock.

"You know something?" Larxene asked walking up to the barrier. "Losing my heart wasn't all bad. Feelings like pain and suffering disappear along with happiness and joy. You lose guilt as well. But, I doubt I ever felt that in the first place." She snapped her fingers with a sadistic smile on her face and currents of electricity surged through Maria.

Her body would not respond to her commands. All of her muscles forcefully contracted restricting her movement. "_Shit…"_

**Pieces**

Sora was on the ground standing on all fours. Half of his body was covered in darkness and the other half light. In the center of the room was strange with a large black crystal in the top. The machine was firing a steady purple ray at a huge crystal embedded into the wall of the mine. Inside the crystal was a bearded man. If someone looked through the crystal they could another one with the same figure.

Lea and Miranda were unsure as what to do. With the exception of the occasional twitching, Sora had not moved since he was exposed to the machine's lights. "Do we break it?" Lea asked looking at the machine.

"If we break it, we could break him." Miranda warned.

"If we break it, we could fix him. Plus, I doubt we should let whoever is in the crystal to wake up."

"I guess we break it then." Miranda raised her sword over her head swung down on the machine. A dark force pushed the blade back up and nearly knocked Miranda off her feet. "I guess we don't break it."

At that moment the first crystal shattered sending the ray through the bearded man. "We broke something." Lea commented as the man's doppelganger was pulled from the second crystal. The two glowed with a lurid black light and merged together. When the light faded the bearded man floated to the ground not moving. He moved when a Corridor of Darkness opened beneath him and he fell through. "Okay…" Lea raised an eyebrow and looked at Sora who had reverted back to his usual self.

"Axel…" He said looking completely confused. "What you doing here? I saw you fade away right in front of me. Where are we anyway?"

"Uh, Sora, you feeling okay?" Lea inquired. "Have you ever seen her before?" He said pointing at Miranda.

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay, then what's the last thing you remember." Miranda asked.

"Um, going to bed in Disney Castle the night after Kairi disappeared."

"Well this'll troublesome." Lea said looking at the opening leading to the previous chamber. "The possible root of this whole fiasco is right in… Holy shit!" Lea jumped out of the way narrowly avoiding whatever flew in the chamber. It destroyed the machine and crashed into the still intact second crystal shattering into small pieces. When Lea got up from his crouching position, he saw Larxene pinned down with an iron support beam. "Ouch…"

Part of the wall separating the chambers had been destroyed. Maria stood on one foot with the other held in the air. Both of her ankles had a pair of golden, polygonal wings floating next to them. Her face held a demonic look in it smiling ear to ear. The wings quickly faded. Maria toppled over onto her side with blood coming flying out of her mouth as she did so.

"I guess it was tie." Lea said rather unconcerned.

"What are they doing here? What's going on?" Sora said looking at the only two other conscious persons. "I am so confused."

"Well, it's rather obvious you suffering from amnesia." Miranda check Maria's pulse making she was still alive. It was faint but there. "Judging from Kairi's story and what you just told me, I'd say at least three and a half months worth of your memories are gone."

"You know Kairi. How is she? She's okay right?"

"_Probably shouldn't mention she's on her way to an intergalactic holding prison._ She and Naminé were fine a couple days ago." Miranda lifted Maria onto her back. Sora smiled in relief glad to hear good news. "Come on, she's tough but, she needs a doctor, now."

"What about her?" Sora pointed to Larxene. "We can't just leave her here."

"_This guy really is too nice for his good._" Lea thought as he relunctantly went to free Larxene. "_Notice how he shows no hesitation to help two people who have tried to kill him._" Lea looked at Larxene's situation and realized something. "How the hell do we move this thing?"

**Pieces**

King Mickey, Prime Minister Stalwart, and Yen Sid were in the throne room dealing with a woman they would have preferred never to have met. She had bronze skin and dark brown hair braided over her left shoulder. Underneath her white lab coat was a red blouse and a khaki skirt. Her legs had on brown stockings and her feet were in high heels. Strapped to her back were two black bladed scythes connected by a black chain.

"Dr. Jhaveri," His Majesty began. "I understand what you're trying to say but, leaving this matter alone is something many people won't stand even within my kingdom."

"I will not allow you interfere in this matter at all!" Stalwart said firmly. "The day I allow darkness to even get a foot hold in my or any world is the day the Cornerstone shatters."

"My, what loud man you are." The doctor said in a British accent. "I'm saying to leave to the Princesses of Darkness be, not to let the darkness trounce on you. What is it about the darkness you fear so much?"

"What's not to fear? It corrupts men, destroys innocent people, consumes worlds…"

"Prime Minister," Yen Sid interrupted. "Doctor, your position and ours are not related yet, they delicately affect one another. You came here to search among our tomes to locate the Princesses and awaken yourself, did you not?"

"And that's why I went to your tower first. You actually listen to people." Out of her coat she pulled an ancient looking book with an undone lock. Stalwart stared at it in disbelief. "This book was among very difficult ones to get to in the Radiant Garden royal library. In it are what I assume to be ancient magic, information about the Cornerstones, and other valuable knowledge."

"What do you mean by assume?"

"Do really think I can read this jargon. It's a dead language." She opened the text revealing ancient runes and symbols. "Almost all of the people who could read it died centuries ago before the fourth world war. It could be a recipe book for all I know."

"Master Yen Sid, do you think you can read it." Mickey asked.

"I'm afraid not." He replied flatly.

"And you're trying to tell us there's some way to read it." Stalwart was growing irritated.

"Exactly, I can think of eight people in the world who can decipher this language. One of them is my child in way. The other seven are God knows where."

"So when you have your 'child' translate, may I ask what you intend to do with it?" Mickey requested.

"I'll try to make this brief." The doctor said tucking the book away. "The people I work with are in the business of maintaining the balance of power. We have existence since World War IV and are the ones who sealed away the forbidden Machina used in it. Light and darkness, good and evil, our mission is to insure one side doesn't destroy the other. After those planets destroyed one another the balance between light and darkness shifted dramatically to favor the light. We've waited for centuries to reset that balance but, then Maleficent went and did it for us. Of course, now she's trying to upset that balance by destroying the orb that rests beneath that throne."

"Are you saying you want us to out of it and leave Maleficent to you?" Stalwart was angry.

"Nope." Dr. Jhaveri walked closer to the group of men. "I want your princess to. Right now she's in the company of group capable of destroying entire cities in a day. I believe you gentlemen spoke with their leader earlier. Right now that group is intent on ripping the witch's head off her shoulders. A princess of heart, the Keyblade master, and Black Phoenix all teaming with a common goal. It will be her end. What do you say?"

"And what about the book?" Yen Sid's stern eyes turned to the doctor's coat.

"I was hoping you'd forget about that. I'll have the book translated and return it here but, there's one condition. You must not make any acts of transgression against darkness using the knowledge in this book without first being provoked to do so."

"That's completely unacceptable!" Stalwart shouted. He walked up to the woman in a rage finally sick of hearing her words. "The darkness has brought about to much destruction to simply stand by and let it fester. That book may hold the secret to destroying it forever. How I can simply say, 'I won't use it.' You're insane if you think I'll agree to that."

"First of all, here's a breath mint." The doctor said pulling out a box of Tic Tac mints. "Second, don't think you can intimidate me. You see, it's fools like you that lead humanity to near extinction. In one war eighty percent of earth's, now know as Terminal Zero, population was wiped out. Of course, if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have a day job." She turned on her heel and began to walk down the red carpet out of the throne room. "I believe we've reached an agreement. Majority does rule. Two warnings though: I am the very tip of a gargantuan iceberg and Black Phoenix is like a bomb."

She exited as simply as she left. Stalwart stood enraged. "Why did you let her go? That book could be answer we need. We could end our struggle for good."

"Prime Minister, return to Radiant Garden and find that book in the royal library. The one she showed was undoubted a fake." Yen Sid said. "That woman seems to have her own agenda, though I must agree with her. The only way to maintain the light is to maintain a balance in the worlds. Neither must be allowed to run rampant." Stalwart left in a humph, not sure how to deal with the situation at hand. "Mickey, I'm afraid must take my leave soon as well. I understand you've sent Donald and Goofy to the Realm of Dawn."

"Yes, but somethin' just doesn't feel right."

**Pieces**

"Where's Sora?" An anthropomorphic duck wearing a blue vest and hat with a zipper running through it asked Felix who had his jacket sitting on the back of the chair he was in. Behind the duck stood a dog wearing yellow pant, a green sweater, and a hat with goggles strapped to it. They, Black Phoenix with the exception of Tatsuo and a bunch of other people who were associated with them were inside of Felix, Isabel and Cornel's.

"I keep tellin' ya, ya damn duck. I have no fuckin' who or where Zora is, nor do I give a shit." Felix said crudely.

"Watch your mouth." The duck replied.

"It's my fuckin' house and, I can say whatever the fuck I wanna say, mothafucka." Felix took a gulp of his Mountain Dew and stood up from the table walking over to an intercom. "Attention," Felix's voice echoed throughout the surprisingly large house. "Anyone who doesn't live here and was not invited needs to-Get the hell outta my house! I've got shit to do in mornin'!" People were murmuring as they exited. "That's right, runnin' an intergalactic black market deliver service takes energy. Go on, scram."

"Come on, man." Snow said clutching Serah's shoulder. "It's midnight."

"I will fly the two of you home." Felix popped his knuckles. "And ya know damn well what I mean by fly." Snow and Serah exited with smiles on their faces. Felix turned to his living room and saw, "Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, Izzy, Cornel, Christine, duck, and dog…"

"We're not leaving until you tell us where Sora is!" Felix popped his neck to the left.

"Gawrsh, Donald…" The dog said. "I don't think he knows." He popped to the right. He ball up his fists really tight.

**Pieces**

Riku and Kairi laughed from atop Felix's roof. On the outside, his house appeared to be as shabby and run down as the rest of the area but, was incredibly nice and large on the inside. It sat almost directly across the street from the garage where Jake, Duffie, and Sander lived and where Donald had had his bill rammed through the metal door and stuck there. He and Goofy were now trying pry it out.

"They sure are something else." Riku said looking at Black Phoenix's symbol painted onto the door. "Who accidentally destroys a roof with a stomp?"

"Which one of them did that?" Kairi asked.

"Her in the black…" Riku pointed at Shizuko who was walking next to Jake. "…everything."

"Well, at least you didn't basically get kidnapped from being held prisoner for money and nearly get blown up. These last few days have been an absolute nightmare for me." Kairi laid on her back looking up at the moon. "Then they drag me to a castle are pretty much ready to sell me off. Now they're probably going to destroy anything that stands in their way to get to Maleficent."

"That's one good thing that came out of this. I'd rather they be on our side then against. And I nearly got blown up myself." Riku laid back as well. "But seriously, something's up. The Turks showed up in the city and planted a bomb under subway tracks."

"They what…! Who authorized it?"

"That's what I'd like to know. There aren't many people with the authority to do something like that. All of them are powerful nobles and the Prime Minister." Riku gazed up at the stars in wonder. "Unfortunately you fall under the category of powerful noble."

"You're not saying I had something to do with it."

"Of course not. But whoever is pulling the strings will probably try to frame you. Everyone knows that there are a lot people who don't think you're fit for the throne. And seeing as no one's seen you for the past three and a half months, you have no alibi."

"I have three who will vouch for me as to where I've been."

"They aren't going to take the word of an outsider."

"I still have one." Kairi said confidently. "But the best move here is to find the real culprit, right?"

"I suppose. But, before that we have to find and fix Sora."

Kairi was silent, unsure how to respond. After a moment she spoke. "It's not my fault is it?"

Riku pulled himself and looked Kairi straight in the eye. "This is not your fault. Ever since that night in Disney Castle, he's been changing, almost like something was controlling him. This morning it was like I was talking to a completely different person."

"And I'm sure he'd be same if I hadn't left. That night the only person I thought about myself. I've been running around causing problems for other people. You, Sora, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, Naminé…"

"Enough," Naminé appeared in a golden light putting herself next to Kairi. "We can't stay on the self beat up path forever you know."

"But this is…"

"No Buts," Riku added. "No matter how much want to, we let you get down over this. The bottom line is, everything's going to turn out okay. Got it?"

"Yeah, maybe when I get a body we can explore the world without running away."

"Guys…" Kairi looked at the garage door only to find that Donald's entire head was now stuck. "Should we help them?"

**Pieces**

Jake and Shizuko walked together down the run down street. Houses with broken windows and lights with blasting music lined the streets. In front of them were drunks and women in scanty outfits undoubtedly looking for money. The eyes of lecherous men followed Shizuko, more specifically her legs, down street hoping to see what was under her clothes. Jake narrowed his forest green eyes at them his black sword already drawn. The air reeked of alcohol almost so much that one could taste it themselves in their mouths. "And so, the weekend begins." Jake announced with a sarcastic tone.

"And we get to spend it keeping a princess in one piece, how fun." Shizuko added in a slightly amused tone. "You know I don't need you to walk me home. I can take all of these fools with or without 'Doppelganger.'"

"True, but I don't feel like going home right now. Truthfully I wanted to talk to you about our princess. As far as I can see, this whole thing's gonna be one big pain in the ass. For example, it looks like Vanitas's other was with her. I believe you met this morning."

"You mean the spiky haired fool." Shizuko recalled. "If remember correctly, Xia-san launched to a different planet."

"So that explains it. Leave it to her to do something like that. Anyway, there's also the fact that there seems to be a volatile political situation back in her kingdom. If we're not careful, we could end up right in the middle."

"Seeing as you have that weapon, I think this was bound to happen eventually."

"Yeah, I guess." Jake whined. "It's not I wanted the damn thing, in the first place. I found the guy before he faded. I didn't even realize what happened until about eight years after that."

"But what about Riku-san, he seemed more than happy with that weapon."

Jake sighed and looked around the run down area. "Be honest with me. Do you think that guy is strong because of the Keyblade or is the Keyblade strong because of him?"

Shizuko smiled and looked up in thought. After a moment silence between them she answered. "I'd say that the reason he's strong is because he's willing to accept the strength, duty, and right that comes with that weapon; but you're strong because you're willing to walk on strength you were born with. However, in terms of combat ability he's lacking in ways. For example, it was obvious he didn't try to hurt me. I'm not sure if he held back because I'm a girl or because I'm younger or whatever. No matter what the case, had we been fighting seriously it would have been an easy victory. There's also the fact that relies too much on the Keyblade. As powerful as it is, not having that weapon could render its user nearly useless. Magic, strength, agility, endurance, all of them are amplified to the superhuman level. It's a mistake many people make: to rely on your Piece or other such thing in battle. It usually costs the person their life. Especially when fighting people like us where the opposite true. I can count on my martial arts in battle and still hold my own against armed Faltian soldiers. Essentially our greatest weapon is our experience gained through years of fighting"

"Put another way, while the Keyblade is his greatest strength it also could be his down fall. And the fact that we don't use those kinds of weapon gives us more power." Jake swung his sword over his shoulder and turned around. "Well, thanks for the chat."

"Jake-kun, watch out for that Sora guy. Is he really is Vanitas's other half, it could become complicated." Jake turned back to see that she had jumped onto a street light and was jumping away. He watched as she left the area eventually escaping sight. Jake was about to walk but then he remembered something. He held out his left hand and opened a Corridor of Darkness.

"I'm gonna enjoy this."

**Pieces**

Tatsuo rubbed the back of his head vigorously. "Are you telling me Takashi disappeared without a trace?" He nervously asked one the men who in front of him.

"Unfortunately, yes." He said. "This was our fault. We'll take the blame. You should have those wounds looked at by a…"

"No," Tatsuo hung head keeping his hand up on the back stopping its movement. "Takashi Oshiro was under my charge. This is my fault."

"Not quite." Akira Gin walked up to his son and looked in the room. He walked inside and breathed heavily. "I see. It seems that our enemy is greater than we thought. The wood these walls are made of is inlaid with nethicite. Even with Takashi's powers, escaping using Pieces would be impossible for all but a few especially without destroying the wall. From that I can gather that this wasn't someone from our group or Black Phoenix. More than likely, this is the work of a l'cie. Maybe I should take Atsushi's advice and install cameras in more places."

"Oyabun, I…"

"Had fun with some friends and had an incident because your men failed at their job. It happens all the time. For now, we should focus on locating Takashi. If he is traitor, I'll leave that to you, Tatsuo."

"Yes, Oyabun."

**Pieces**

"Read 'em and weep." Pete said arms folded with head held high. Rayn had an annoyed look on her face.

"Wow, you brought back an injured yakuza and Diablo." She said mockingly. "It think it's time the real winner was revealed." Rayn pushed a button on the wall and six white pods were illuminated. One contained the bearded man from the mines. The other five held five women. "For Rayn Brandt, one dark Keyblade Master and five Princesses of Darkness."

"And my compliments." Maleficent said. "However, I believe there should seven princesses not five."

"It was untested system. You can't expect all the bugs to be worked out."

"I can't expect that you would allow such to go dealt with."

"Calm down, one of them I know is Daltus with red. I'll stay here for a day or so and track down the other. No biggie."

"For sake I hope not. Pete, you and Maximillion will retrieve the other princess and Kairi tomorrow."

"I-I uh won't let ya down." Maleficent disappeared in a burst of green flames. "She's gotta be crazy. That Riku guy, the dreadlocked kid, not to mention those Black Phoenix brats; what am I gonna do against all that."

"_Good thing this guy's a dumbass weakling._" Rayn thought to herself devising a scheme of her own. "I bet the new Knightshaker would be of help."

"The Knightshaker!" Pete was shocked at the mere implication of her suggestion. "You would let me use it."

Rayn grabbed Pete by one of his overall straps pulled him down to be level with her own face. "Don't think this means I like you. I'm just in it for the cause." Rayn let go sending Pete to floor.

"Uh, thanks, I guess…" Pete exited through a corridor just as Isa entered through one.

"You and I both know he can't control the Knightshaker. It's far too powerful for him. And Maximillion can't either."

"Isa, have you heard of anything called 'Alpha Presence?'" Rayn asked. Isa raised an eyebrow. "It's an ability only a person with an extraordinary amount of sheer willpower can activate."

"An ability of the soul..." Isa mused in his head. "You want to see if it will work on the Heartless."

"Black Phoenix's four strongest: Felix Hunter, Jacob Marshall, Shizuko Kuroha, and Simone Boneau, all of them can use 'Alpha Presence.' I wonder if they can control the Heartless as well."

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Larxene "The Savage Nymph"_

_Age: 22_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-darkness (lightning affinity)_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Maleficent_

_Weapon: Foudre_

* * *

_Name: Dr. Agrima Jhevari_

_Age: 39_

_Abilities: ?_

_Imperial Bounty: 539,000,000_

_Affiliation: Black Phoenix-medic (sort of)_

_Weapon: Chain Scythes_

* * *

_Name: Donald Duck_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Disney Castle-Royal Court Magician_

_Weapon: staff_

* * *

_Name: Goofy Goof_

_Age: ?_

_Abilities: Power of the heart-light_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: Disney Castle-Captain of the Royal Knights_

_Weapon: Shield_

**Deceased**

_Jamison Marquis_

* * *

**_Again forum and Fatalities watch for 'em. Freakin' review. See Ya!_**


	10. Gaints

_**Fuck yeah! Pieces in celebrating its tenth chapter. Now if only I could get a review or two I'd be a happy man. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**"Gaint"**

Riku stood inside a study filled with books and other trinkets Felix had gathered. Newspaper clippings of Black Phoenix's villainous and occasional heroic but destructive, as in they destroyed a lot more than they saved, adventures were hung on the walls. Multiple swords, guns and other weaponry hung as trophies. Along with them hung a scythe with a long pink blade and a curved, green handle. "Marluxia…" Riku said quietly as he gazed upon the weapon. He looked at the desk that was illuminated by the morning sunlight. Sitting on it was a desk lamp, a copy of The Art of War that was filled with tabs and notes, a pair of reading glasses, and a photo. "He's far sighted?"When Riku turned his attention to the photo he saw it was an image of a younger Felix, Maria, and four others two boys and two girls with identical features. They wore worn out clothing but they were smiling none the less.

Now Riku felt like he was intruding. He walked out of the room and looked down the hallway. Felix mentioned having a weight room but not where it was. Seeing as the house was rather large on the inside, so large in fact all of the guests got their own room, Riku found himself lost. He walked in the opposite direction he had come then stopped and laughed at a sign that read "Guarded by Ninja King." He wondered where Felix had bought the sign and kept looking around.

Then, the smell of blueberries hit his nose. He remembered he had yet to have breakfast before he started wandering around the house. Without hesitation he followed it into the kitchen where Aerith was making pancakes. Yuffie, Kairi, and Isabel were sitting the oval shaped wooden table where Felix had argued with Donald the night before. They had glasses of orange juice in front of them. "Where're Felix, Leon, and Christine?"

"Those two hit the gym." Yuffie said. "Christine followed them for whatever reason."

"Actually I've been trying to find that for a while now. Care to tell me where it is?" Riku looked at Isabel.

"Down that hall, third door on the right, puto culo freeloader." She responded in a crude voice.

"Um, thanks." Riku was not sure how much of an insult that was.

"Riku, could you tell them breakfast will ready in a few minutes." Aerith asked from the stove.

"No problem." Riku walked down the hall Isabel had pointed out. "Third door on the right…" Opening he found what he been looking for. Felix was standing on his hands pushing up against some machine and counting in the four thousands. Leon was doing simple bench presses. Christine was slowly spinning around in mid-air holding her music box.

The machine pushed down on Felix and he pushed back up counting another number. "That oughta be enough for today." Felix flipped onto his bare feet. He was in a red shirt and sweat pants. "Yo, Riku, thought ya'd be the early bird type."

"Thought you'd be the sleep 'til noon type." Riku responded shrugging his shoulders.

"Only when I do somethin' particularly exhausting." Felix put on a pair of black shoes.

"So you don't consider yesterday exhausting." Leon stood up as well. He had on everything he had on yesterday with the exception of his jacket. "Exactly what do plan on doing with her?" He asked pointing at Christine.

Felix rolled his shoulders and did not bother to look at Leon. "Well, I sure as hell ain't keepin' her. And your political situation makes you and your mouse kingdom out."

"So what do you suppose we do?" Riku asked holding back a laugh.

"I know someone who'd be willin' to keep an eye on her." Felix said stepping out of room. "I was plannin' on talkin' to her today."

"Are you sure this person is trustworthy? I mean, there are obviously some bad people in this city." Leon said with some doubt. In truth he was referring to Black Phoenix.

"There are bad people everywhere ya look." Leon, Christine, and Riku followed Felix down the hall. "Shiki isn't one of 'em. At least as far as I can tell she isn't."

"Just how well do you know this woman?" Riku was not even close to convinced.

"Well, she gave me and Izzy a place to stay when we first came to this city a couple years back so, I'd say pretty damn well."

"I'm sure you won't mind if I tag along just to be sure." Riku's request sounded more like a command.

"Go right ahead." Felix noticed his tone. "But you're wastin' your time. But, who knows maybe she'll let ya stay at her place and get ya outta mine. Do I smell blueberries?" His tone completely changed.

The four of them entered the kitchen sat down at the table. Felix wasted no time attacking his food finishing three syrup soaked pancakes in less than a minute. "Seconds!" Aerith hesitantly provided only to watch the food disappear in seconds. Felix washed it down with some orange juice and requested another plate. Everyone except Isabel who was almost finished with her first plate watched in plain disgust as Felix devoured more than half the prepared food in minutes. Aerith now understood why Isabel told her to make so much since she insisted on cooking to thank them for their hospitality. "Hey, Aerith, hit me again. Ya gotta tell me the recipe later."

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Aerith asked before putting another plate before him.

"My stomach says otherwise. Breakfast _is_ the most important of day." Felix continued to eat without any sign of stopping.

"You get used to it." Isabel said finishing her glass.

"I'd never get used to watching this-this horror show every morning." Leon said almost not wanting to eat anymore. "If you and Maria drink from the same gene pool, it would explain all the food thefts in those two weeks."

"Yeah, I know." Felix drank from his glass apparently finished. "I'm sure ya could tell from lookin', but Maria's my sister. Mom was an abandonin' bitch, never met dad."

"Twins I assume." Riku was almost surprised by what Felix had said about his own mother.

"Nope, triplets. Course, neither of us has seen the third in five years goin' on the twenty-fifth."

"You haven't seen your family since Christmas five years ago?" Yuffie asked. "That's so sad."

Felix put his hand to his forehead and rocked back in his chair. "Man, I keep forgetting our birthday's on the same day as Christmas. Besides, we have three older siblings and I've only seen one in seven years."

"So much for family bonding." Leon said.

"Well since you guys so interested in me, what about you." Felix pointed to Riku and Kairi or Umihana as he had come to know her. "Those Keyblades are somethin' else. I've heard legends about 'em but, I've never actually seen one until yesterday. How'd that story go? Keyblade wielder shows up, can't remember anything in between, everyone dies."

"Where'd you hear that?" Kairi asked.

"Newspaper." Everyone stared. "I read the newspaper. Anyway, apparently some guy went on rampage and slaughtered like two thousand people. There are legends all over if look for 'em. Most don't end pretty. For example, I heard this guy turned himself into monster then crystallized himself all to save a mountain village."

"We've heard legends too." Riku said. "Some say that the Keyblade saved the world while others say it destroyed it. As a matter of fact we came across this village that was so scared of the Keyblade they wouldn't even let us near it."

"I guess that's the price of power sometimes." Kairi finished her pancakes. "Exactly how long will it take for you to find a way back to the Realm of Light?"

"Depends…" Felix stood up from the table. "How fast we get there is decided by when Maria bothers picking up the phone or by when Duffie finds it himself. Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna take a shower."

He left the room and walked up the stairs with flapping behind him. Cornel warped into his seat giving a startle to everyone except Isabel. "What fuck is wrong with you people?"

**Pieces**

Jake watched as Duffie and Selphie worked on the computer locating an "inter-dimensional hotspot." Countless codes and such which only they could understand were on the screen. Donald, Goofy, Tidus and Wakka chatted in the background seeing as they did not have a clue as to what was happening.

"Hey, how long is this gonna take?" Donald asked impatiently. "We gotta get back pronto."

"I don't know." Duffie said not turning around. "It could be weeks. It's a lot easier thanks to the dimensional communication system Selphie set up, but it's still going to take a while."

"Well, you could at least _act_ like you're in a hurry."

"Why rush? The sooner we get done the sooner we go to dimension filled with those Heartless."

"It's not like they're all the same size as the Knightshaker." Jake pointed it out looking at Vanitas's memories. "Besides, we're gonna take on Maleficent eventually. May as well get the practice in."

"Gawrsh, why do you guys wanna fight Maleficent?" Goofy asked.

"It's simple actually. See, Maleficent double crossed us. If word gets out and we haven't done anything, not only does it look bad on Black Phoenix, but it benefits her in that people will think that she's stronger than what she is. We get less clients, she gets more fighters meaning you get a bigger problem. We take the witch out, problem solved, princess returned home, no one talks shit about us, and Kingdom Hearts is safe. Everyone wins."

"So in other words…" Donald said "You brats are just saving face."

"Well if you wanna sound like an arrogant ass, yes, we are."

"How do you guys even plan on beating her?" Donald folded his wings and gave Jake a cocky look. "She's no push over. It took me, Goofy, _and_ Sora just to beat he the first time."

"Really, in that case this Sora guy must be pretty damn weak." Jake said without thinking. "I mean, she's not even the threat. I could tell just from fighting Rayn that the nine Temnye are probably using Maleficent and the others for their own purposes."

"And you're saying you can beat them? You're just a bunch of juvenile delinquents."

"No argument there. But, need I remind you that it was _your _bill that was rammed into a garage door, not one of our heads?"

"Speaking of which," Duffie said from his chair. A robot entered the room and handed Goofy a hammer, a large metal mask with a tinted glass in front of the eye hole, and some kind of gun. "That's a hammer and a welding gun. We kinda need that door fixed."

"We're not fixing anything!" Donald shouted.

"Uh, Donald, it is kinda our fault."

Donald snatched the gun out of Goofy's hand stalked out of the room muttering incoherently. "You two," Jake pointed at Tidus and Wakka. "Since you're here, make yourselves usefull. We're gonna give the _Burn Out_ a full maintenance check."

"_Burn Out_? What's the _Burn Out_?"

"Follow me and find out." Jake exited out of an automatic door and was quickly followed by the two older boys. They walked down the dimly lit corridor that made up a small part of the hanger area of the residence. It led to a narrow passage with a metal floor a glass tube surrounding them.

This brought them to large command center. A large glass like casing covered the entirety of it. A flight of stairs lead to the main command console with the pilot's chair directly in front but at a lower level. Four other consoles were tiered out and down accessible from the stairs. There was a large amount of space in between the glass covering and the consoles. On either side of the pilot's and commander's seat was a door that lead to inner workings of the _Burn Out_. Black Phoenix's black phoenix insignia was on the space in above the pilot and on the floor in between the consoles and the glass.

"Whoa…" Tidus and Wakka said in unison.

**Pieces**

In Maleficent's castle, Rayn was in Maleficent's throne room reclining on the floor with her head support by her left forearm looking at Black Phoenix's files herself. As she had expected they were filled with reports, articles, and photos that contained words and images of destruction and carnage. "Rayn!" Maleficent appeared in her throne room in blaze of green. "Where are the rest of Temnye? Our time is almost upon us. We will need all of them to defeat Keyblade Wielder and his lackeys. Once we have Kairi he'll be sure to come. And that's when I'll finally reap my revenge."

"_Yeah, good luck with that you old hag._" She thought as she sprung to her feet. "I don't know. None of them have texted me back yet."

"Texted…"

"Y'know, texting." Rayn moved her thumbs as though she were pressing buttons on her phone. Maleficent sent a puzzled glare. "You send text messages, with words, and acronyms like 'l-o-l', texting." She was baffled. "Do you know what a cell phone is?"

"If it cannot help me gain control of Kingdom Hearts, I am not interested."

"Can't help! Dear God!" Rayn opened a Corridor of Darkness and motioned for Maleficent to follow. "Come on."

"Where are we going, may I ask?"

"To learn how modern conveniences make taking over the world just little bit easier." Maleficent with some hesitation got up from her throne and walked over while Rayn thought, "_What the hell! Who doesn't know what a fucking cell phone is? No wonder she always had me communicate with the others. She's been so busy she couldn't be there herself. How old fashioned is she?_"

**Pieces**

"This isn't gonna work." Maximillion said to Pete. They were standing on top of building overlooking a stretch of road that was filled with cars driving by. The purple haired Nanami stood silently in the corner wearing red pajamas and slippers. Her eyes were empty bobbles that showed no interest in anything or anyone.

"Of course it's gonna work. Our fair Key bearer would never let an innocent person…" Pete pointed to Nanami. "… get hurt. We switch 'em out go back to the castle and get all the glory from Maleficent."

"Yes, if it were just our Key bearer that would work. However, you must realize that right now our princess in the presence of Black Phoenix, a group of demons responsible for the end of tens of thousands of lives." The man looked out at the city noticing the Christmas decoration. Daltus's youth free from school for two days wondered around the city looking for all the fun to be had. The adults still had places to work and business to run. "To make matters worse we're on said demons' home turf. We're at a huge disadvantage yet, you think a simple plan like this will work. Or perhaps there's something that you haven't told me yet. Either way, good luck."

Maximillion stepped into the doorway that led to the inside the building. "When demons and knights ally themselves what is the result? I guess we can only wait to find out." Pete looked off into the street and saw what he had been waiting for.

**Pieces**

Felix drove down the street while Riku sat in the passengers' seat and Christine in the back. All but Felix who had his eyes on the road looked at the decorations all around as the city prepared for Christmas. Even considering all the excitement, Riku could not help but to wonder how he did not notice them the day before. He and Felix wore basically the same attire from yesterday whereas Christine had on a white dress with multicolored polka dots and a blue jacket. Surprisingly the dress had been found among the stuff Felix had stored away in his house.

The car stopped at a red light. Felix and Riku looked a lot more attentive when they saw a Corridor appear in the middle of the intersection. Horns began honking as Nanami stepped out but, she did not react at all. Fortunately for her it had been in that short period where both lights were red that she had appeared. Felix honked his own horn in impatience. "Get outta the way, bitch!" He shouted shaking his fist out the window as his light turned green.

Two portals opened up next to her. Two Heartless appeared, one with a blue round torso the other orange. They had red and blue black striped scarves on that turned into capes. One's head was a swirl of flames and on the others were three ice sickles. Their pants were held up by gold and silver belts each with the Heartless emblem in the center. In their hands were staffs of fire and ice that were pointed at Nanami who did move an inch.

Felix, Riku, and Christine stepped out of the car though Christine more so floated. "The Volcanic and Blizzard Lords… I don't get it. Why aren't they attacking?" Riku asked as he drew his Keyblade.

"Who cares as long as they get outta road!" Felix put his fists up ready to fight.

"But what are ya gonna do if that girl gets hurt?" Pete appeared in a Corridor arms folded and head held high. "One funny move, and the girl gets turned into a Heartless."

The horns were honking louder than ever. "Fuck you." Both of Felix's hand glowed as he flattened then. He spun a full three-sixty creating a gust that knocked Nanami skyward and the Lords in opposite directions. A whirl remained leaving Nanami suspended in the air. "Just who the fuck do ya think I am?"

"Well then, we're just doin' this the old fashioned way." Felix lunged at Pete and was intercepted by a quickly thrown explosive bowling ball. "That's what ya get for not waiting like a good boy."

"Who the hell says I'm a good boy?" Felix was suspended in the air above Pete with arms and legs spread. From this position he could see Riku being attack by the Heartless. Riku swatted away the Volcanic Lord's staff and jumped allowing a block of ice to hit the Lord. After flipping his body upward, Felix dropped down hitting the pavement with his foot full force as Pete stumbled away from become a part of the ground.

Christine flew up next to Felix and held her music box over her head. The monkey clapped the cymbals in his hands together as the girl's body glow with a faint aura. "Kikikikikiki…" she giggled as a large spinning green orb formed in front of her and launched at Pete crashing into his stomach and sending him flying over a building. "He flew!" Christine said pointing in Pete's trajectory.

"Look Out!" Riku shouted in warning. The Volcanic Lord was bouncing around leaving patch of flames were it landing. When it came close enough, Felix stomped into ground with the heel of his foot causing a piece of the pavement to be pulled up and hitting the Lord. The Heartless shattered into smaller ones that were knocked into the air. The hunk of pavement was launched with a powerful kick and crashed into the Blizzard Lord breaking into apart as well. Riku gathered a large orb of darkness in his left and fired. "_Dark Aura: Bombardment!_" Orbs of dark flames flew at and destroyed the Heartless ending the battle in the streets.

"We win!" Christine said as she gleefully spun around.

Felix waved his hand and cancelled out the whirlwind allowing Nanami to drop into Riku's waiting arms. She opened her eyes and looked into Riku's before blushing. "Think you can stand up?"

"Uh, yeah..." Riku set her down gently on her feet. "Where, am I though?"

"Have I seen you before?" Felix asked with Christine next to him. "Wait I got a name. Nana- no Nami!"

"It's Nanami Arakaki." She said with a frustrated tone. Then realization washed over her. "Wait a minute; you're that freak who blew up the science wing! You and that-that black guy with the dreadlocks!"

"Now I remember!" Felix said. "You're that annoying, stuck up chick who tried to stop us. Yeah, it's all comin' back to me. Josh said we couldn't blow up an entire wing with classroom chemicals. He never said how much we could use."

"That was hilarious, caw" Work popped out of Felix's hair.

"It talked." Fear gripped Nanami. "That means you're the C-C-Cr-Crow…" She fainted.

"That's great now get off the damn road!"

**Pieces**

Aerith and Yuffie were backed into an ally by a bunch of large men with guns. "Tamatha and Yuki, I was wonderin' where you two were. Thought someone had put a bullet ya for a second." The apparent leader of the bunch said.

The two girls looked at each in confusion. "What's he talking about?" Aerith whispered.

"Obviously they think we're someone else."

"So what do we do?

"We roll with it until can find a way out. Follow my lead." Yuffie puffed up to look tough and walked over to the leader. He was about twice her size in width and looked like he would squish her in a heartbeat. "That's right I'm Tamatha and what about it foo'."

"Funny, I thought Tamatha was the one with single braid and pink ribbon." The man began to reach for his gun.

"Testin' ya, testin' ya." Yuffie walked back to Aerith. "Okay, Tamatha you need to sell this." She whispered.

"I-I don't what say."

"Do I have to do everything?" Yuffie walked back over. "A'ight, what do ya want punk?"

"I believe that's something Tamatha should be asking."

"She threw out her voice, son. So I'm askin' for her."

"Well then, we came to inform that you that your bags have arrived at the hotel. We also came to escort you ladies." Aerith and Yuffie had little choice but to follow them into their car. "It's a great pleasure to givin' a ride to the great drug dealer Tamatha." Little did they know the real Tamatha and Yuki had been shot by Isabel half an hour ago.

**Pieces**

"Well that's about it." Jake said eating a cup of instant noodles with a plastic fork. "Just one more thing to take care of, but I need something that's not on board." He looked at Tidus and Wakka and sharply narrowed his green eyes. "Don't touch anything." He said in a coarse voice.

"Can't we just…" Tidus quickly found himself pinned to wall above the pilot's seat by the darkness.

"Don't touch _anything_!" Jake stalked off taking a slurp of his noodles. Tidus fell into the pilot's chair and looked at the console with a devious grin.

"Who the hell does that guy think he is?" He began pressing buttons. "He needs to learn to respect his elders."

"Tidus, don't touch those." Wakka grabbed his wrists and tried to restrain him.

"Let me go! I'm just gonna rev the engines." The two them struggled for a moment accidently hitting buttons before the screen read "Burn Out: XLCR mode release engaged." They heard machines outside moving around outside the _Burn Out_ and felt themselves rising. "What does 'XLCR' mean?"

Both of them got up and ran over to the casing. Both were astonished to say the least by what they saw when they look outside. Rather than an airship they saw a robot, a giant robot. Its main color scheme was a dark red with black flames painted onto the wrists, ankles and other major joints. The Black Phoenix insignia was on its chest. It stood over everything in the area making them seem incredibly small. "So 'XLCR'…" Wakka began, "…stands for 'Extra Large Combat Robot'?"

"Oh hell yeah!" Tidus said. He ran full speed up the stair taking the controls of the commander console into his hands.

"We need to put this back, ya!" Tidus did not listen and pushed on a pair of lever like grips. This action activated the AMP rocket thrusters on the back suddenly and forcefully propelling them towards the downtown of Daltus. Wakka who had not braced himself was thrown back into the second level console on Tidus's left. "Brakes! Brakes!"

"Where are the brakes!"

Tidus pulled up against the grips to left narrowly avoiding the first building only to crash into and destroyed a radio tower. Both of them screamed as they flew through a large tower taking the middle section with them. Pieces of the building fell from the machine as Tidus instinctively gripped the controls even tighter. This reflex activated the _Burn Out_'s braking system jolting them forward in their seats. It stopped and slowly landed in the middle of the city.

"Now what fuck's going on!" The man said honking his horn.

**Pieces**

"What the hell was that?" Riku asked looking in the direction where the building Tidus had destroyed once stood. The car was parked outside of a duplex. Nanami was still asleep in the back seat while the other three were outside.

Felix ignored the question thinking it was Duffie or Jake's doing. He rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. Riku walked over still holding a look of concern on his face. The door opened and out came a woman with long chocolate brown hair. She had on a t-shirt and short shorts with a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth. "Felix, what do want?"

"Yo, Shiki, what's up?"

"Nothing interesting, that's for sure. Unless you count that terrorist attack yesterday." Shiki looked up and breathed out some smoke. "My friend's wife was killed. I didn't like her too much but, he's heartbroken. But, back to my question, what do you want?"

"Actually, I kinda need a place for her stay." Shiki raised an eyebrow at Christine as she floated in mid-air. "I'd appreciate if you could take this guy off my hands too."

"Don't push it." Shiki took a drag of her cigarette and opened the door wider. "Well, come in."

They stepped into her home immediately entering the living room that had TV, coffee table, and sofa in it. The television was turned to news which was reporting about the destruction of the radio and building that occurred a few moments ago. The house smelled of cigarette smoke. Shiki lead them into the plain looking kitchen that had a simple table and oven.

"So exactly who is this kid?" Shiki and her guests took a seat. She put out her smoke in an ash tray and looked at Riku. "Don't tell me she's this guy's."

"Of course not!" Riku replied. "I wouldn't dump my kid on someone else anyway."

"Good, but what happened to her real parents is what I'd like to know." Silence fell over the room with the exception of the live news report from downtown.

"Master Ren said they went to someplace called the Farplane."

"_Translation,_" A bit of an amused smirk appeared on Felix's face. "_They died. Course, either way she's been sleepin' for a millennium. They'd be dead anyway. But, does she even realize that? _"

"And just when will they be getting back?" Shiki asked.

"I don't know. Ren said I'd see them again one day. He didn't say when but he's too nice to lie."

"Out of curiosity, where did go before you went to sleep?" Riku asked.

"After he beat up all those light meanies he went to the Farplane." She replied with pride. "Can use the bathroom?"

"Felix, show her the bathroom."

"It's your freakin' house."

"That you lived in for three months. It's barely even a house anyway." Felix reluctantly got up from his seat and motioned for Christine to follow. She hopped down and actually walked up the stairs with Felix to the only bathroom in Shiki's home. "You want something to drink?"

"Uh, you have any lemonade?" Riku tried not to sound pushy.

"Pink, is that alright?"

"Of course."

Shiki went over to her refrigerator which was only a couple steps away. "You know you're a good kid, right, Riku?" She said as she opened the fridge took a pitcher.

"I've been told but," Riku's eyes narrowed. "I don't remember anyone saying my name."

"Cautious too. Not a bad trait to have." She poured the pink lemonade into a glass and sat in front of Riku. "Which makes me wonder, why would a guy like you even associates himself with 'The Crow,' Felix Hunter, the boy whose bounty is over two hundred-million?" The returned the pitcher to the refrigerator and sat back down

"Unfavorable circumstances."

"You sure Kairi would agree with that? They did inadvertently save her life. Course, now they're trying to get twenty million out of it."

"And just how do you know all of that?"

"My Piece, obviously. My 'Kindle' ability lets me read people's chemical output history and see what events caused the release of particular chemical at that time and the amounts that were released."

"So basically you can read my mind."

"Nope," She responded jokingly. "I have no idea what you're thinking right now. 'Kindle' is totally useless for self defense."

"Can't you freak someone out with it? Say you're some kind of psychic."

Shiki laughed at this and shook her head. "Kid, you obviously don't understand exactly what we Access are."

"Enlighten me."

"I'll try my best. I'm sure you realize magic is the power of the heart. Put simply, Pieces are the power of the body. By sending a unique energy form called Piece Triggers to certain of the parts of the brain, the cells in those parts of the brian convert that energy into Piece Trigger waves. These waves travel throughout the body and the surrounding area granting the Access psychokinetic abilities. Because everyone is different the exact points that get PT energy varies creating a limitless possibility of Pieces. Metamorphosis, pyrokinesis, gravity manipulation: these are just a few of abilities the human body has locked inside of it. Some can level cities others can make buttered toast. It's all luck of the draw. Oh, by the way, I have a poker game with Luxord tonight."

"I'll keep that in mind."

**Pieces**

Kairi's Keyblade and Leon's gunblade clashed against each other in the large field of green grass. Truthfully it was a simulator across the hall from the weight room but either Kairi was losing badly. Leon pushed Destiny's Embrace onto the ground and followed up with a kick to the side sending her to the ground. "You alright?"

"Fine." Kairi stood back up feeling her side. "Let's take five."

"You won't get 'five' on the actual battlefield." Leon stated with all seriousness. "What's with you anyway? Suddenly you want to practice your swordsman? What gives?"

"It was during the fight with Rayn." Kairi admitted. "Even without the Keyblade or magic she was still able fight on par with Jake. Then there was the airship. After he destroyed those machines Jake relied solely on his swords."

"I noticed it too. Felix fights with his bare fists. The sheer power he puts behind his punches is just overwhelming. Even with a blade I was still at a disadvantage in close range. The way they fight it's like…"

"…their abilities are just supplements to their styles." Kairi finished. "Riku said he had a match against that Shizuko girl last night. He said that even though she used her 'Doppelganger' power, all but one of her actual hits was done through martial arts. That's the difference between us. They rely on skill. We rely on ability." Kairi raised her weapon. "When they use both, we can barely keep up. If the other Temnye are like that then we're done for. We have to get stronger so we can win. Maleficent can't have Kingdom Hearts."

"Kairi, to totally be honest, I'd rather you not fight at all."

She relaxed her arms and looked at Leon. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what said." Leon said sternly. "Kairi, no, Princess, Radiant Garden needs you and it needs you alive. The nobles are only looking out for themselves. By law, a missing monarch can only be declared dead if their whereabouts are unknown for six. Somehow I doubt the Stalwart intends to tell anyone you're alive. We need to ensure that the nobility can't do as they please. That's the reason Ansem took over after your parents' death, to make sure their kingdom wasn't turned into feudal realm."

"What will happen if I don't return?"

"By law, a tournament is held among the nobles with one warrior representing each house. The winning family takes the throne."

"That's why I don't want you to fight. I need you, the people need you alive."

"Well in that, just make her so fucking strong she can't lose." Kairi and Leon looked to their left to find Cornel lying down on the simulated grass. He sat up and gave a sinister smile that revealed his fangs. "Shit, the only thing you need to stay alive in a battle is to be stronger than all of your opponents. No matter how strategic you are, it doesn't mean a damn thing if you're a total weakling. Which is what I don't understand about you, Miss Princess. You've more power than anyone in this city. Yet you don't use it, why is that?"

"Because there's someone I need to protect."

"So that leaves you with three options. One, fuck whoever you're protecting and fight like mad. Two, find something else to do with that person, or three, stay back and let someone else fight." Cornel chuckled then said. "But, you're too fucking nice for one, aren't you?"

"You're right, I sure as hell am too nice. But, I refuse to back down."

"Option two then." Leon said. "There's no changing your mind."

"Of course not."

"Then promise me something." Leon raised his head and looked at nothing in particular. "Don't die."

"The thought never crossed my mind."

"_It isn't so fucking simple princess. Trust me on that._"

**Pieces**

Maximillion stood and laughed at Pete. "Why the nerve that little brat…"

"Nice work Pete. Ya really caught 'em of guard." Max said with sarcasm putting his sunglasses over his eyes. "I told you it wouldn't work. And now that girl will be almost useless to me."

"Alright then, no more Mr. Nice Guy." Pete was angry. "No one messes with the Mighty Pete. Looks like I'll be usin' that after all." Pete snapped his fingers and three large portals opened. The arms and stone torso connected. Finally the Knightshaker stood legs and all towering over them.

"You dumbass! It was a trap!" Max ran through a Corridor his remote created choosing not to stick around any longer.

"Hmph, what's wrong with him? Okay Knightshaker, let's go steal us some Princesses." The sun was blocked out as the Knightshaker's foot lifted over Pete. "Huh…" was all he said before he was crushed under the incredible weight.

**Pieces**

Shizuko sat in her classroom having been called there by Mr. Zed. She sat in her desk while Zed leaned against his. Her blank expression showed a complete lack of concern for the news she had just been told. She had already been informed by Hope, with whom she had three classes, as to what the situation that hit all in her class with the exception of herself so hard was. "Do you even care?" The teacher asked not expecting a good answer.

"The vice principle, his wife, and ten-year-old son were murdered while the annoyance I'm forced to call a classmate has disappeared." There was an utter lack of emotion in her voice. "Nope not at all."

"She's your classmate."

"She's not my family or my friend."

"Look, I know the two of you don't eye-to-eye but, Shizuko, she's probably still alive…"

"Meaning either you think I'm the one responsible or I should use my resources to find her." He had considered both possibilities. "According to the reports, the way in which the Arakakis were murdered is the trademark killing style of the criminal that has been running around the city unopposed. I'm not sure if you've realized this or not but, Nanami Arakaki's 'Liquid Hydra' could perform all these feats. I'll be the first to admit that fighting her with a Drive with would be a bit difficult. Though, I doubt a person like her in capable of using a Drive."

Zed was silent. Just how far had she thought things through? Shizuko was smart, genius even; Zed knew that. She was type to consider every possible scenario. He also knew about "Liquid Hydra." Nanami's hair served as medium to draw in moisture. Using her hair she could manipulate that moisture. "You don't actually think that, do you?"

"I've considered countless possibilities. A sudden release of emotions could temporarily cause one to lose control of their abilities. Her father is secretly abusive. A cult she or her parents joined. The truth could be anything in this world where the possibilities don't seem to end."

"That's why I'm asking for your help." Zed said. "We need to know the truth so she and her family can have the justice they deserve."

"In that case," Shizuko stood up and walked to the door. "You shouldn't go around saying words as important as 'justice' so easily, Mr. Zed. Who knows, maybe their deaths were 'justice' for someone else." She left the room leaving her teacher with a disappointed look. "What is 'justice' I wonder. Is the law or the words of the Bible or some other holy book? Someone like me who can't even show her own emotions would never understand."

**Pieces**

"Well ain't this a surprise." Shiki said as she lit a new cigarette. Riku, Felix and Christine, bladder emptied, looked at Nanami with surprise. Her hair was connected to at least twenty long streams of water that were sharpened like blades. Her eyes had returned to being bobbles. Max watched from across the street in another house's driveway.

"Is this some kind of mind control ability?" Riku asked summoning his Keyblade.

"Like I would know." Felix popped his knuckles. "But the dude in the suit and sunglasses looks pretty suspicious. Christine, got any tricks up your sleeve?"

"Uh-huh." She disappeared from sight.

"We have to hold back. That girl has nothing with this." Riku said.

"It's rather obvious that our opponent is one those Temnye Umihana mentioned. Let's see what this guy can do." Felix charged head long towards Nanami with his fists raised. Worc flew into the air before the water came down on him crashing into the pavements. Cracks were formed in the ground before Riku followed Felix's example of going up the middle.

The two of them easily avoided the water and reached Nanami. Felix activated his right hand and pushed the air sending Nanami flying towards Maximillion while Riku protected him from being scoured. The water crashed into the street serving stakes to keep Nanami in place. "As if a cheap trick like that would work." A green orb flew into then through Max before exploding effectively destroying the home owner's driveway. Christine floated back down to Felix. Quite a few people stepped outside and peered out windows to see what was happening.

"And you say I'm the one with cheap tricks." Felix kept his fists up even with the truth revealed itself.

"A hologram," Riku said choosing to lower his weapon. "How obvious is that?"

Max laughed at them and raised his sunglasses revealing his eyes. The water dispersed leaving Nanami hair dry. "Yes, as you can see my Piece, 'Parasite Overshadow,' is nearly useless for direct fighting. Of course I wouldn't come here myself. I'm just no good on frontlines in a world where everyone has an ability. I'm here to make a deal. Give the Princess of Darkness or let me break Ms. Arakaki's mind. Pick."

"You're bluffing." Riku narrowed his at looked a Max. "To do something like that you'd have to be in close range."

"Normally, yes, but the seed has already been planted. The girl has no idea that she's been under my control for half a year now. For that half a year she's killed, stolen, and let's just say I've had my fun with her."

"Bastard…"

"Catching on, are we." He smiled crudely.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin' this guy." Felix finally lowered his fists.

"The guilt, the blood, the shame all dropping on her in single instant. Hell, just this morning she killed her own parents and little brother. She'll go insane. Of course giving me the Princess makes Kingdom Hearts pretty much ours. Now then, pick, Mr. Riku, Mr. Hunter. I'll give you some time to think it over."

"_I see. His first plan was to use Nanami to kill us. When he realized that wasn't going to happen, he used plan b. But how do I know it's not a bluff? Should I run the risk? If I'm wrong an innocent girl will be as good as dead. Then there's Christine. No matter anyone says she's obviously a good kid. I can't just hand her over. If I do give her to Maleficent, there's a chance we can save when we finally invade her base. No, that's crazy. She already has six princesses. One more and we're through. He's created a situation where I can only lose. But what about Felix? What's he gonna choose? I sure he realizes the same situation just the same as I do from an objective stand point. What move is he gonna make in a situation like this? Will he give up Nanami or Christine?_"

"I vote we give up Nanami." Felix did not stutter, which shocked to Riku to no end. He put his hands in pocket and gave his reasoning. "We lose more if we give him Christine. Besides there's not a one-hundred percent guarantee Nanami will break from the mental shock. This'll scar her for sure but, I've killed countless times and my head's still on my shoulders."

"Unreal." Riku walked over to Felix and grabbed him by the shirt. "How can you just sell someone out like that! She's a human being, damn it! You can't make decisions that could change a person's life! There's gotta be way we can save both of them!"

"Care to tell me where the fuck that way is. 'Cause I sure as hell don't see it." Felix grabbed Riku's wrist and painfully broke the grip. "Thinkin' about human life is good. But, when faced with a situation like this, your goal should be to save as many lives possible. That's just common sense. Go ahead, drop the bomb." He said looking at Max's hologram.

"Okay then but, I suggest you cover your ears." He snapped his fingers and vanished. Nanami's eyes regained their bright appearance but only for a second. She dropped to her knees as tears began to stream down her face. Her trembling hands moved up to her head and began pulling at her hair purple hair. Images of blood and the dead bodies of her family appeared in her head. News reports of crimes she had committed played back verbatim. The things Max had done to her, the things she had done, all was revealed to her in a matter of seconds. Finally she let a loud scream that carried for miles.

She stopped and let her hands drop to ground. Her eyes returned to being empty as she stared at the concrete tears dripping from her face. Around her people began calling the authorities and doctors to get help. "Let's go." Felix said as a Vector grabbed Nanami pulled her off the street.

"Where are going? She needs a hospital or something." Riku reluctantly climbed in the front as put Nanami in the back seat with Christine.

"Do ya know what will happen after that?" Felix started the car and put it in drive. "Rich people were killed with rich friends. Now that they've got face and name she's got life if not an execution waitin'. Even if this all blows over, her old life is gone. I can get the charges dropped but that's it. Unsatisfied people will come after her with bullets."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's human nature." They pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street away from the Guardian Corps unit that were arriving on the scene. "They'll want revenge which will lead to shootin' and blood and gangs and assassins or you could let her rot in a prison or a whacky shack if she gets lucky. If you've got a happy endin' that doesn't involve the slaughter of at _least _fifty people, I'd love to hear it."

"We clear her name by proving she was being controlled."

"So instead of killin' him, ya plan on catchin' the bastard."

"If we can force him to reveal his ability, we can prove she was being controlled. After that we can get her life back."

"Ya say that like it work out that easily." Felix gave a sarcastic smile. "I just got through tellin' ya her old life's gone didn't I. Everything will change after this. Her family will probably disown her. The publicity could cause her to get expelled. Her friends will treat her like a monster. And that's only if she ever regains her mental stability."

Riku looked in the back seat at Nanami. She looked dead her skin pale and her eyes looked like simple marbles lying still on her tear soaked faced. Christine had been showing her simple magic that was more for show to cheer her up but to no avail. One day ago she had been taunting Shizuko and now she was a ghost of herself. Riku felt something in his heart from the sight. Was the darkness taking advantage of his rage? Or was it something else? Could his rage towards Felix for the way he was handling the situation.

The only he was sure of was that he was that he was mad at himself.

**Pieces**

In the downtown area, Tidus, Wakka, and the _Burn Out _sat surrounded by Guardian Corps forces. Guns and artillery of all sorts were pointed at them as newscaster interviewed soldiers about the situation. They had tried to leave but that resulted in the destruction of two more buildings, a truck, a billboard, and a bridge.

"Okay, Wakka, what do we do?" Tidus asked in panic.

"Like I'm supposed to know!" Wakka said in anger. "This is your damn fault; you fix it! I told you not to touch anything but; did ya listen to me, _no_? Now we've guys pointin' _guns_ at us!"

Tidus finally gave in and said, "Okay, I fucked up. You were right and, I was wrong. I should've listened to you and Jake and not touched anything. There, ya happy?"

"Yes, now let's figure a way to get out of this mess. Maybe we could…"

"Attention…" A voice echoed throughout the area. "This is the GC-DSR. Come out of the… robot with your hands up. You will not be harmed. I repeat: you will not be harmed."

"Uh, what do we do?" Tidus asked again.

"Just open hatch we came in from so we can get out."

"Okay, open the hatch." Tidus looked at the console and countless commands the he could not comprehend. "What's the worst that could happen?" Tidus said as he pushed a random button.

The worst that could have happened was the activation of the "Kill all the Mothafuckas" mode which Jake had installed a few weeks ago without Duffie's knowledge. That is exactly what happened. Countless missiles were revealed in the chest, arms, legs and crotch area of the _Burn Out_. In the chest, the giant silo split in half, moved to either side, and made room for more missiles repeating the process three times. The arms rose to a perfect horizontal to avoid hitting the chest missile crashing into two building in the process.

"How many missiles does this thing have!" Tidus said as some more came out of the shoulders.

"32,897…" A chill went down Tidus's spine as Jake's voice appeared from behind him. A demonic looking green aura was surrounding him as well the illusion of a skeletal samurai clad in armor. "All of which I'm tempted to fire at _you_."

**Piece**

Xia and Simone were in there pawn shop named "Black Chocobo" both of which were known for rarities. Xia was sweeping up and keeping the place neat, while Simone was bargaining for an antique sword. "I'll give you sixty thousand."

"Can we go up to seventy?" The owner said.

"Can't do that, sorry."

"Sixty five thousand."

"Sixty-two thousand five hundred, that's the best I'll give you."

"Can I get two thousand more?"

"Sixty-two five hundred, that's my final offer."

The man who was rather proportionate heaved and conceded. "Alright, sixty-two five hundred."

After some paper work and signing, the man handed the sword over to Simone in exchange for agreed upon sum of munny. He shook the girl's hand and left to do some task as Simone went into the back to lock the sword away. The man then shouted, "Holy shit!" and ran in the opposite direction.

This prompted Xia to look out the display window. "Hey, Simone, what you say that monster you fought yesterday look like?"

"Um, let me think!" She shouted from the back. "Stone body, black arms with stone rings with Spiran script around them, a skull with major under bite for a head. And blue lower body with a tail. Why?" She asked coming out.

"Are sure it didn't have really ugly brother?"

"Xia what are you talking about?" Simone stepped outside and dropped her jaw. "What the _hell_!" She put extra emphasis on "hell" as looked up at a super-sized Pete. "Guess I'm gonna have to kick that thing's ass too."

**Pieces**

_**Pieces Character Data Log**_

**New**

_Name: Nanami Arakaki_

_Age: 14_

_Abilities: Pieces-"Liquid Hydra"_

_Imperial Bounty: none_

_Affiliation: none_

_Weapon: none_

**Update**

_Name: Maximillion Rite_

_Age: 23_

_Abilities: Piece-"Parasite Overshadow_

_Imperial Bounty: 12,000,000 munny_

_Affiliation: Maleficent-Temnye_

_Weapon: none_

* * *

**_Hoped you liked it and now you an understanding of what "Pieces" are. Maximillion is a real bastard, huh. Notice how his name is spell like a douche bag. Oh well. This is why God didn't give humans superpowers. We'd fuck worse than we do now. That's right. I have no faith in humanity._**

**_See Ya!_**


End file.
